Shadowed Child
by SlytherinDemigod18
Summary: All Nico wanted to do in London was reap a stray soul, but no. That wasn't what happened. Before Nico knows it, he's at Hogwarts for the year. But there are things happening at Hogwarts other than school. Soon after coming to the Wizarding World, Nico is swept up in a plot that may very well prove to be the end for one of the sides of the war.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

' _Scythes are really impractical battle weapons. I don't know how Kronos managed to wreak such havoc with one of these things.'_ A dark-haired boy scowled as he pushed his way through the London street traffic. The day was cold and damp for August, yet the boy only wore jeans and an aviator jacket, neither of which was sufficient enough to keep out the chill. ' _Why did Father insist that I must bring one?'_ Nico di Angelo shifted his weight and swung the black weapon up onto his shoulder, looking up at the houses that spanned the road next to him. He was told that the soul fragment would be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but so far, he wasn't seeing any house that had that number attached to the door.

"Can I help you, boy?" The gravelly voice came from behind the demigod.

Nico spun around, relaxing when he realized it was just an old man. A homeless man, by the state of his appearance. Nico felt a rare twinge of sympathy, he remembered when he was living on the streets after Bianca's death. He pushed the thought aside before he could dwell on it much. "Um, yeah. I'm looking for Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Do you know where I could find the street?"

The old man's eyes widened and darted from left to right like he was looking for the best escape root. "Those informations don't come easy kid, but yous best run while yous can."

Nico tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. Gods damn it, he didn't have time for this! Father expected him home soon and he did _not_ want to break curfew again. "Fine." Nico gritted his teeth. "What will it take?"

A skeletal-like hand reached out from the torn sleeve of a frayed coat and waited expectantly.

"Information first."

The old man sneered, revealing exactly five yellowed teeth. "There ain't been no Number 12 in nobody's existence. Dem peoples foolish enough to go 'tween 11 and 13 has no memories of that time, or dey never comes back. No sir, it's best yous stayed away."

' _Interesting_.' Nico thought. "Thank you for your help."

He dropped a golden drachma into the man's hand and took off towards the shadows, melting into darkness just as he heard the old man yelling for him to take his phony money back.

oO0Oo

The shadows dropped him off right in front of Numbers 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place. Nico pulled on the cloak that Thanatos had given him - really, did the man have to be so dramatic when it came to reaping souls? - and flipped the hood over his head. With luck, he could take the soul before anyone noticed he was even there. Nico stalked towards the wall that separated the two houses, inspecting the brick wall where Number 12 should have been. He touched the wall, and his senses exploded.

"Gods, what is wrong with this place?" Nico crouched against the wall, holding his head in pain. The amount of magical residue coming off this place was astounding enough to cause a splitting headache. No, not coming from that place, but from a space between the houses.

' _That makes no sense_." Nico thought. ' _What could be between a solid brick wall?"_

He sighed as he resigned himself to what he was going to do. Will would kill him. He wasn't supposed to be doing much shadow travel yet, but there was no other way to get into the vortex. Nico reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a flask of Unicorn Draught. He downed the canteen and slipped into the shadows. Where he was going, he had no idea.

oO0Oo

He was not expecting to crash land in someone's hallway. Picking himself up from the ground, he muttered a curse in Greek and dusted off his clothes. Okay, so no more shadow traveling for a while. Nico looked up and took in the house. Grimy dark walls, corners covered in cobwebs, depressing looking artifacts and paintings. This place reminded Nico of home. Carefully, he set off down the hallway towards where his senses told him the soul fragment was.

Everything was fine, until he tripped over the rug.

"MUDBLOODS, FILTH, STAINS OF DISHONOUR, TAINT OF SHAME ON THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!"

' _What in the Hades is that?'_ Nico turned around and saw a moving painting of a woman screeching at him. The portrait was painted in the likeness of a black-haired lady who, in Nico's opinion, looked like a _gegeine_ turned female and human.

"Shut up Mother!" A man with tangled black hair came running down the hallway, but stopped when he saw Nico. "Oh. Wha- Moody! We have a crisis here!"

"Black, this better not be one of your-" A scarred man, followed by numerous other people in dresses, hobbled quickly down the hallway and stopped beside the man he'd called 'Black'. "What are you doing here? What is your name? How did you find this place?" Several people pointed - were those sticks? - at Nico.

Nico summoned his scythe to his hand and made the shadows swirl around him to create an aura of foreboding and mystery. "You can call me a Grim Reaper and I have come to collect a soul."

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a jet of red light coming from the stick of the scarred man. It hit him, and everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

' _Where am I?'_

Nico blinked his eyes groggily and stretched. Well, _tried_ would be the better word. His legs and arms were bound to a chair in what Nico assumed was a kitchen with rope. He started to panic as he recalled what had happened. He got captured? Father was going to kill him.

"Don't bother, kid. Those ropes are tied too tight to break."

Nico looked up and saw the man called 'Black' sitting opposite to him in another chair at the table, studying him suspiciously. Black turned his head and called out the door. "Moody, Professor, he's awake."

Two more people stepped into the room. One was the scarred man who had blasted Nico earlier, and the other was an old man with twinkling blue eyes who looked like he should have died long ago.

"Glad to see you're awake my boy." said the old man.

"I'm not your boy." grumbled Nico. "Where am I."

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that unless you tell us who you are."

"I already told you." Nico snapped. "I'm a Grim Reaper and I'm here to collect a soul."

The scarred man eyed him quizzically. "Albus," he said, turning to the old man. "He must be a Death Eater. No sane person would align themselves with death. We should off him before he turns on us and tries to kill us."

The old man, who Nico now knew was named Albus, shook his head. "I do not think he is a Death Eater, Alastor. He seems a bit young. He doesn't look like he is older than a third year." Turning back to Nico, he said, "I have a few questions for you, young man."

Nico gritted his teeth. " _Fine_."

"What is your name?"

"Frank Levesque." Nico said quickly, thinking of the first name that came to his mind.

"He's lying, Albus. He answered too quickly."

Nico's heart hammered in his chest. Although half-bloods were trained on what to do in the case of being captured, most of those scenarios involved being captured by monsters who could be hurt by their weapons. Nico was pretty sure that these people were mortals, albeit strange mortals.

Albus sighed. "I'm sorry, my boy, but if you do not answer our questions truthfully, we will be forced to resort to other measures.

"Why don't we just wait for the rest of the Order to arrive?" Black's voice came so suddenly that Nico jumped. He had almost forgotten the man was there. Nico chastised himself for not being more aware of his surroundings.

"Great job, Black. You just revealed the Order." grumbled Alastor.

Black rolled his eyes. "We can just obliviate him later, if needed."

Nico tilted his head. He wasn't sure what _obliviate_ mean, but it sounded too much like the Latin word for 'forget' - obliviscatur - for his liking. Discreetly trying to wiggle his hands and legs, he tried to access more of his situation. His legs were tied in three places on the chair legs. His hands were a different matter. They were tied only once, but the knots were behind his back and tied to the back of the chair. Given time, Nico could carefully untie the knots on his hands before working on the ones on his legs, but time didn't seem to be on his side. Just as he thought that, he heard several muffled _cracks_ and the opening of a door. He looked up quickly and wondered if he was seeing everything correctly. Five people entered and they couldn't have been more different from one another. Two people, a dumpy short woman and a tall balding man, had hair so orange it looked like flames were licking their scalps. Both of them looked to be in their early fifties and they had on matching wedding rings. Nico assumed they were husband and wife. The next man that came in was tired looking and covered in scars. He had streaks of gray and white in his hair, but Nico suspected that he was younger than he looked. He wasn't until he stepped closer that Nico caught his scent.

 _Werewolf_.

Nico's eyes widened, but otherwise he didn't react to the newcomer. The only thing he did was rub his silver skull ring, slightly reassured that he had at least _something_ silver if it came to it. Satisfied that he was in less danger, he returned to watching the people enter. The next person that came in was a girl with pink hair so bright it gave Nico nausea. She wore a tight red shirt and a leather jacket with ripped skinny jeans. The last man to enter looked like a child of Hades. Nico was pretty sure he didn't have any relatives other than Hazel, but if he did, this man would be one of them. With his greasy hair and dressed in a long black robe, he had a scowl on his face that made Nico want to laugh. This man probably thought that he was really intimidating, but even the smallest kid from the Aphrodite cabin had a better glare than the man did.

"Why had you called us here, Albus?" The man's voice was oily and made Nico want to gag.

"We have a visitor."

All eyes turned to Nico and he heard several intakes of breath.

"Is he a Death Eater?" The plump woman asked, hands flying to her mouth in shock.

"I do not believe so." said Albus. "But nonetheless, we still need to know what he is doing here. Severus." he turned to the greasy man. "Do you have any veritaserum on you?"

The man who Nico now knew was Severus reached into his cloak and withdrew a small vial of clear liquid.

"What is that?" Nico spoke for the first time in the presence of the new people and several heads looked his way in shock.

"Is he a muggle?" The pink-haired woman asked.

"I don't think so." said Black. "He just appeared in the entryway, didn't trip any of the alarms. Aside from my mother." he added as an afterthought.

"What is that?" Nico repeated. "Who are you people? What is it going to do to me?"

Albus answered, stroking his long beard. "It is called veritaserum and it is the strongest truth potion in existence. As for us, I will let everyone introduce themselves. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Right." Nico said, looking around the room. "And the rest of them."

"Wotcher, I'm Tonks!" the pink-haired lady waved at him, now sitting on the table.

"My name is Remus Lupin." the scarred man said.

"A werewolf, I presume?" Nico said.

Lupin's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

Nico didn't answer, only looked at the red-haired couple.

"I'm Arthur Weasley and this is my wife, Molly." said the balding man, holding onto the plump woman's hand.

Black looked up nervously. "I'm Sirius Black, and before you say anything, I'm innocent."

Nico nodded. He knew already from the souls in the Underworld that Black was innocent.

"My name," said Severus, "Is Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

All eyes turned towards the last man in the room, who harrumphed. "I still don't know why I have to tell him my name. He could be a Death Eater."

"Alastor." Dumbledore warned.

"Fine." Alastor barked. "Alastor Moody."

"You can call him 'Mad-Eye." Tonks piped up, ignoring the glare Moody sent her.

The dark kitchen was silent for a few moments before Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Administer the potion please, Severus. Three drops should do."

Despite Nico's struggles, the potion was poured on his tongue. Nico panicked. If this was a truth potion, he didn't like what he might be forced to reveal under its influence.

"Just swallow it, already." said Tonks, swinging her legs back and forth. "Mad-Eye is going to get the information anyways and this is the less painful way."

Nico shook his head. Will would kill him if he returned to camp after being tortured, but Nico figured the gods would do worse than _kill_ him if he revealed their world.

' _Father.'_ Nico prayed. ' _What should I do?'_

He was not expecting an answer, but one came. ' _The Council has agreed that you will not be punished for anything you reveal. Furthermore, Hecate had decided that while you are there, you can help her pet world with the war they are having. Good luck, Nico_."

Nico opened his eyes and swallowed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing** ** _._**

The moment he swallowed the potion, Nico felt a haze go over his mind. He felt like something was grasping at his consciousness, trying to force him to reveal everything.

"Can you hear us?." Dumbledore brought his attention back to the situation he was in.

When Nico nodded, he asked the first question. "What is your name?"

"Nico di Angelo."

"I told you he was lying, Albus." Mad-Eye sprung to his feet, wand out.

"Calm down, Alastor." Dumbledore said. "How old are you?"

"Eighty-five."

" _WHAT?"_ Molly screeched, before regaining composure. "How is that possible? You look to be no older than twelve."

Nico gritted his teeth. "Physically I am fifteen, but I was trapped in a hotel where time didn't pass for seventy years."

Dumbledore looked interested. "Where do you live?"

"America."

"Do you have any siblings that are like you?"

"Two."

"Where are they now?"

"One lives in California and the other is dead."

Molly's expression softened and she smiled sadly at Nico.

"How did you break into our headquarters?"

"I shadow traveled."

Gasps echoed throughout the kitchen.

"That's high-level Necromancy." said Lupin, looking faint. "How do you know how to do that?"

"It is a family gift."

Mad-Eye tightened his grip on his wand and jabbed it in Nico's face. "Are there any concerns about your sibling coming to the headquarters in the same way?"

"No. My sister cannot shadow travel."

Dumbledore asked the next question. "Do you have any association with the Dark Lord, and if so, what?"

"Yes. He is my Father."

There was silence for a moment as everyone processed that, before six wands were pointed at Nico.

"Hold your fire." Dumbledore stepped closer to Nico and pushed the wand nearest to him down. "Which Dark Lord are you talking about?"

"Lord Hades, god of the dead and King of the Underworld."

Wands were lowered as the wizards looked at one another in confusion. "Who?"

"Lord Hades, Greek god of the dead and King of the Underworld."

"So, you're a god?" Tonks squeaked.

"No. I am only a half-god, a demigod if you will, or half-blood."

Sighs of relief were let out. Dumbledore took that as a queue to start up the interrogation again. "Why are you here?"

"A mission for my father."

"What's the mission and why?"

"I am one of my father's Grim Reapers and as I told you before, I am here to reap a soul."

Arthur stepped in front of his wife protectively. "Who's soul?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle's."

oO0Oo

It took Dumbledore sending sparks into the air for the pandemonium Nico's statement had started to calm down. Once everyone in the kitchen was sitting calmly in a chair, Dumbledore asked Nico another question. "Where is this soul located?"

"Inside the Horcrux scar of Harry James Potter."

Sirius jumped to his feet. "We have to get that thing out of my godson!"

Dumbledore gave Nico the antidote and spoke. "Sirius, settle down. We will get the Horcrux safely out of Harry."

Nico felt his head clear and looked up at the old wizard. "Only I can get the soul out of Harry safely. Else, you would have to kill the boy. I _will_ get the soul out of Harry safely." he repeated for Sirius's benefit.

Sirius calmed down slightly, but still looked panicky.

"Although." Nico continued. "I cannot help him if I am bound to this chair." he said, nodding at the knots around his limbs.

Dumbledore waved his wand and the ropes fell away and Nico stood up, rubbing his sore wrists. "Thank you. The ropes were starting to hurt."

"You said you could help Harry?" Sirius prompted.

"Yes, but I need to be in the same room with him."

Sirius frowned. "He's asleep now, it's after midnight."

"Then I'll go to his room. Where is it?" Nico asked out of courtesy. He already knew where the soul was.

"Oh no you don't." growled Mad-Eye. "You might try to kill him while he sleeps."

Sirius looked startled, as if he hadn't considered that.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Fine. You can come with me if you want."

Sirius started forwards. "I'm coming too."

Nico sighed. "Fine." He sent out his senses and searched for the exact location of the soul fragment. His senses locked onto a cold patch two floors up and three rooms from the staircase. Without waiting to see if they would follow him, Nico walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

oO0Oo

Standing on the threshold of Harry's room, Nico took a deep breath. He sent powerful dreams into the minds of the two boys sleeping inside. Stepping into the dark room, he strode across the rotting wooden floors the bed farthest from the door. Nico frowned and studied the boy sleeping in the bed. He was pale and had short black hair and wore red and gold pajamas. On his forehead was a lightning bolt-shaped scar. It was there that Nico felt the darkest energy. Before he could touch the scar, though, he was interrupted.

"What are you doing to him?" Sirius hissed.

"My job!" Nico growled and turned back to the sleeping boy.

He touched the scars and Harry's face contorted in pain.

"Hurry!" Sirius said as Harry whimpered. "He's hurting."

"I know." Nico snapped, irritated by this man after barely knowing him an hour. "It takes a moment, maybe longer if the soul decides to fight.

And fight the soul did. It took all of Nico's willpower to overcome the soul's hold on its vessel. His face beaded with sweat and he gritted his teeth, sending one last burst of power to the scar. Nico drew his finger from the scar, the soul fragment following with a horrible shrieking noise. It looked like black smoke but was more solid. Nico encased the soul fragment in a cage of shadows and summoned his scythe from wherever the wizards had kept it. He swung it at the soul and, with one last shriek, the Horcrux disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Nico stumbled from the backlash he got from the soul. It wasn't like any of the other souls he'd reaped; this tasted like pain and gave him the feeling that his blood was turning to ice in his veins.

' _No. This soul does not have control over me. I am the Ghost King and no ghost can break me.'_ With that, Nico straightened and turned tiredly to Black. "Do you have a place I could stay tonight?"

Black frowned. "We should go back downstairs and discuss arrangements with the rest of the Order."

Nico scowled, but nodded. He was tired and drained from using his powers and all he wanted to do was collapse in a bed and get a solid eight hours of sleep, but his father had instructed him to help the Wizards win the war and it wouldn't help to get on their bad sides now. Walking back down the stairs was tricky with his vision blurry from exhaustion and overexertion of his powers and he fell heavily into the chair they had trapped him in once he reached the kitchen.

"Mr. di Angelo, are you alright?" the voice came from Dumbledore, who moved forwards to sit on one of the chairs opposing him.

Nico grunted an intelligible reply and felt his eyelids droop, before he snapped them open again, fighting against his desires to sleep. "'m just a little tired."

Nico could hear the amusement in Dumbledore's voice as he spoke and he knew how he must look. The only living son of Hades, Grim Reaper, Prince of Darkness and the Ghost King, half asleep on a stranger's kitchen table. "My boy, how would you like to attend Hogwarts for the year? You are of age to go and would be in Harry's year. I believe it would be beneficial for everyone if you learned to control those...abilities of yours."

Despite being half-asleep, Nico registered the unintended insult and lifted his head, scowling. "Listen, mortal. I would not be here if I weren't on my father's orders. Even still, he has told me to help you win the war so I shall go to this _school_ of yours. But bewarned. I am in _complete_ control of my powers and they are my birthright and legacy as a demigod child of Hades, so one more insult or suspicion about me or my heritage and I will not be so cooperative."

The wizards and witches in the kitchen nodded at his statement and the redhead Nico recognized as Mrs. Weasley spoke up. "Professeur, how will he catch up with the rest of the students?"

"We can see how he does in the meantime and, if needed, arrange for a tutor."

With that, Nico's head hit the table and he fell asleep.

oO0Oo

When he woke, Nico was surprised to find himself in a bed. He was pretty sure he hadn't fallen asleep in this bed, but at the kitchen table the night before. Sitting up under the covers, he took in the room before him. Dark brown walls spanned all four sides of the room and the only window Nico could see was covered by curtains that let no light in. Adorning the walls were portraits and Nico was sure he saw several move and whisper to each other when they thought Nico was looking. Above an unlit fireplace opposite his bed was the emblem of a large snake curling around a crest which, Nico assumed, was the crest of whoever owned this place. Other than those modest decorations, the room was completely void of anything special. Spotting a door across the room, Nico slid out of the warm blankets and onto the dark wooden floor.

Entering the bathroom, Nico turned on the shower to the hottest it could go. The room quickly filled up with steam and Nico bounced candlelight off his ring into the vapour and gave a quick prayer to Iris, goddess of rainbows, to help him create one. Sure enough, a faded rainbow appeared in the mist and Nico reached into the pocket of his aviator's jacket for a golden drachma and threw it through the faint rainbow.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering and show me Will Solace at Camp Half-Blood."

The image in the mist rippled to show Will asleep in his bunk in the Apollo cabin. Nico cursed. He had forgotten that the camp would still be asleep at this time because of the time zone changes between England and New York.

"Will!" he hissed.

The son of Apollo bolted upright in bed, eyes searching wildly for the source of the sound before they settled on the Iris message and he relaxed. "Oh, hey Sunshine." Will rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "What are you doing up so early?"

Nico grinned. Will was a sight for sore eyes and he hadn't seen his boyfriend in over a week. "Actually, it's morning where I am. I just woke up."

"Right, you're doing that mission for your dad. How's that going, by the way?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Nico's smile faded and his expression turned serious. "The...mission is going to be longer than expected - a lot longer."

Will furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?" he said slowly.

"Father wants me to stay and help some people win a war."

Will exploded.

"Absolutely _not_ , Sunshine." Several of his siblings stirred at the exclamation and in a quieter voice, he added, "You are still recovering from the Giant War a few weeks ago. I refuse to allow you to go."

Nico sighed. "Will, I can't exactly refuse my father, but from what I understand, this war doesn't even come remotely within the danger that we faced in the Giant War and the Civil War between the camps. In fact, the enemy doesn't seem higher up on the danger scale than a hellhound. I'll be fine, promise."

Will relaxed somewhat, but made Nico promise that he would write every week and if he didn't hear from him for three weeks, Will would march down to the Underworld and force Hades to reveal Nico's location so Will could come and get him.

Nico gave a quiet laugh at that part. "Of course I'll write, you're my significant annoyance." Giving his boyfriend one last smirk, Nico slashed through the mist and broke the connection.

Steam hung heavily in the damp bathroom air and Nico realized how long he'd been talking to Will. Quickly undressing and stepping under the water, he yelped at how hot it was. Still, once the initial burning feeling faded, it felt good to be warm. As a son of Hades, his body temperature was lower than the normal demigods and he was always cold. After working shampoo through the thick locks of black hair that rested atop his scalp, he turned off the water and stepped from the shower stall. Immediately, his body was assaulted with cold air and his shivered in his towel before getting back in his clothes from the previous day. The wizards might offer him new clothes, but Nico preferred his own. Besides, if a monster did attack him, at least it was his clothes he was ruining, not somebody else's. Turning towards the door, Nico decided to see if he could find his way downstairs and to the kitchen.

oO0Oo

When Nico arrived in the kitchen, he noticed he wasn't the only one there. Quite a few other people milled about, most of them having red hair and Nico suspected that they were related to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Taking a seat at the table, he observed the only two others without red hair. One was a bushy haired girl who had her nose buried in a book and the other was Harry Potter. Harry was laughing with a freckled redheaded boy their age who was shoveling bacon and eggs into his mouth in between breaths, reminding Nico slightly of Percy when he ate.

"Hello, Nico, dear." Mrs. Weasley set a plate heaped full of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with jam in front of him along with a large glass of milk. "There you go. Don't be afraid to ask for seconds."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." Nico eyed the plate. Ever since returning from Tartarus and being held captive in the giant's jar, his appetite had not returned to normal and he doubted he could eat all of what was on the plate. Still, the food smell _so_ good and his stomach started demanding him to eat it all.

"You're very welcome, Nico." Mrs. Weasley smiled at him and returned to stirring large pots on the stove as dishes washed themselves in the sink.

The son of Hades picked up the fork, but had only eaten a few bites before deciding to take notice of the eyes that were staring at him. Setting down his cutlery, he sighed, "Yes?"

"'O ar' 'u?" The red haired boy with food in his mouth tried to say.

"Ronald!" the bushy haired girl chastised the freckled boy. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

'Ronald' swallowed and said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Nico." Nico returned to eating his breakfast, smirking under his bangs. He knew his short answer would annoy them and he could already see the questions forming in Bushy Hair's mind. "I was so gracious as to give you my name, you might give me yours."

"I'm Hermione Granger. And your answer was not what we were looking for." Bushy Hair said bossily.

"I told you who I was, what more could you want?" Nico knew he was testing their patience, but they were _so_ gullible.

Before Hermione could continue, two more redheads interrupted her. "He's Fred-"

"-and he's George-"

"-and together-"

"-we are the Weasley twins!"

Not looking up from his toast, Nico point at 'George' and 'Fred'. "Nope, you're Fred and you're George."

Fred's mouth dropped open. "How did you know?"

Nico smiled. "There's two brothers back home who look exactly alike and they pull that trick _all_ the time."

A whistle from the other end of the table caught Nico's attention. A girl with hair like fire was applauding him and whistling in appreciation. "You're the first non-family member to get it right. I'm Ginny Weasley, by the way, and that idiot eating like a pig is my older brother, Ron."

Sure enough, Ron had returned to shoveling food into his mouth like he was starving, which Nico took offense to. _He_ was a starvation victim and you didn't see him eating like that.

"And I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

Harry winced, as though he was waiting for Nico to start screaming, but Nico just set down his fork and knife and leaned back into the chair. "Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Weasley. It was delicious."

Mrs. Weasley came over to take his plate away and frown. "You didn't eat much, Nico. Are you sure you're done?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. If you'll excuse me, I think I will go shopping for my school supplies now."

"You don't have your school supplies yet?" Hermione said disapprovingly.

"I came from another place before this and they didn't need the same stuff." Not a lie, just not the full truth.

"What school did you go to?" Hermione put her book down and leaned closer to Nico in excitement.

Nico inwardly groaned. She wasn't going to give this up, was she? "Hecate's School of Magic." he said, the lie rolling easily off his tongue.

Hermione frowned. "I've read all about wizarding schools around the world and I've never heard of 'Hecate's school of Magic'."

"That's because we don't give information to outsiders."

Smiling at her offended face, Nico walked towards the wall and entered a familiar realm of cold darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Harry Potter. Not Heroes of Olympus. Even this computer is my parent's :(**

Nico peeked around the edge of the ally he'd shadow traveled into, making sure no one had seen him. When none of the mortals seemed to have noticed him, he brushed off his clothes and stepped into a passing crowd of mortals. It was at that time that Nico realized that he didn't know where he was going. He was about to start panicking when he noticed a building ripple into sight in front of him.

"'The Leaky Cauldron'. Huh, must be Hecate's magic kicking in." Nico mused as he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The interior was much bigger than it looked on the outside, though still quite small, and Nico had to stop himself from crying out in shock. The pub was dingy, but welcoming and after getting over his initial shock, Nico noticed he was getting a lot of attention from the occupants of the pub. Nico supposed it had to do with the fact that he was older than the average Hogwarts student, yet looked as though he hadn't seen magic before. Making his way over to the bar, Nico spied a man who looked like he was the innkeeper and decided to ask him where to go from here. "Excuse me sir, but do you know where I go from here to get to a place to buy my school supplies?"

The innkeeper grinned, revealing yellowed teeth. The man was quite old and, in Nico's opinion, looked like a walnut. "Yes, of course. Follow me, young man." The man hobbled out from behind the bar. "My name is Tom, by the way."

"Nico."

Tom pushed a door at the back of the inn open and gestured for Nico to go through. "You look a bit too old to be a new Hogwarts student. If you have magic, how is it that you haven't been here before?"

"I'm a transfer student." Nico kept it simple. It was easier to believe that way.

"Ah." Tom prodded the brick wall that closed off the alley behind the inn a few times and the wall moved to the side. "Well, before you go in, I should explain things to you. The tall building at the end of the street is Gringotts, the bank. The goblins there should be able to exchange your foreign money for British Wizarding money. There are shops all along Diagon Alley where you can get your school supplies, but I do not recommend going into Knockturn Alley. It's filled with dark magic and evil artifacts."

' _Interesting_.' Nico thought. "Thank you, sir."

The innkeeper chuckled. "Just call me Tom, everyone does. And you're welcome."

Nico stepped into Diagon Alley and the wall closed behind him.

oO0Oo

Nico stood in front of Gringotts and gazed up at the gold plate above the giant white doors. On the gold plate was engraved the words ' _Fortius Quo Fidelius.'_

"Strength through Loyalty." Nico read. "That's a pretty good motto."

The goblins on either side of the door nodded and Nico stepped into the bank and when to the nearest free teller. He waited until the goblin was done writing something on a piece of parchment before speaking. "I would like to make a withdraw." Nico was guessing that if Hecate had created this world and he was on a quest for her, there would be a way for him to get money without actually having a vault.

The teller eyed him suspiciously. "Do you have a key?"

"Well, no, but-"

"No key, no withdrawal."

Nico huffed. "I am on a quest for the Lady Hecate."

The moment he said those words, the goblin straightened and looked around nervously. "Do not speak of that here. The goblins are the only ones here to still have ties with the old gods. Come." The goblin put an 'next teller' sign on his desk and hopped off his stool.

Nico followed him to an office with a mahogany door. The goblin rapped on the wood and a deep voice from inside said, "Enter."

The goblin pushed open the door and led Nico up to a desk where an old goblin sat, weighing gold and then writing down something on more parchment. "Sit." he said without looking up.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Nico sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Lord Ragnok, this boy claims he's the one from the Lady Hecate." The goblin teller said.

The goblin who Nico presumed was 'Lord Ragnok' stopped writing and set the quill down. Ragnok lookup and his mouth curled into a cruel smile. "What is your name, boy?"

"Nico di Angelo." Nico said through clenched teeth. He didn't like the way this goblin had addressed him, but he figured that if he offended them, that was where his quest would end.

Ragnok turned to the teller. "Do the blood test."

"Yes, my lord." The goblin waved his hand and a filing cabinet opened and a piece of parchment and a knife floated out. Grabbing Nico's finger, he pricked it with the knife, causing Nico to let out a startled yelp, and pressed it to the parchment.

Nico quickly pulled his finger back. "What was that for?"

Ragnok smiled his cruel smile. "We just have to make sure you are who you say you are." He gestured to the paper and Nico looked at it in amazement. Letters and symbols were forming out of the drop of blood that had been imprinted on the parchment. Nico looked at Ragnok, who nodded, and picked up the parchment, studying the words on it.

 _Nico di Angelo_

 _Status: Half-Blood - alive_

 _Father: Lord Hades - immortal_

 _Mother: Maria di Angelo - deceased_

 _Sister: Bianca di Angelo - deceased_

 _Half-Sister: Hazel Levesque - alive_

 _Confirmed Bloodline Inheritance(s):_

 _Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Hades (Heir Apparent)_

 _Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin (Lord by Rights of Forfeit of Mortality)_

 _Vault Number(s): 13, 4_

 _Vault Contents:_

 _Vault 13:_

 _10297447 Galleons_

 _353470 Sickles_

 _38791073 Knuts_

 _6932 Golden Drachmas_

 _Vault 4:_

 _36044 Galleons_

 _23746 Sickles_

 _9364 Knuts_

Nico let out a low whistle. "I don't know how much that is in mortal money, but something tells me it's a lot." He looked more attentive at the second House on the sheet. "What does it mean 'Lord by Rights of Forfeit of Mortality'?"

Ragnok snatched the parchment from Nico. The goblin leader read it and bared his teeth. "It seems that when Tom Riddle made his horcruxes - yes, I do know about them - he became essentially immortal. An immortal can't hold a mortal title, so the title went to the man he'd tried to conquer; death and as such, Lord Hades. But Lord Hades couldn't hold the title either, so it went to his Heir Apparent. As of now, you are the new Lord Slytherin."

Nico eyed the parchment again. "I guess I shouldn't tell anyone about either one of my titles. Something tells me it would not be met with good reactions."

"No, you shouldn't. Gornuk." Ragnok barked. "Take Mr. di Angelo down to whichever vault he requires."

oO0Oo

The bank teller, who Nico now knew was Gornuk, stopped the trolley outside vault 13. Nico had decided that he didn't need to go in the Slytherin vault just yet and instead had opted for his father's vault. Nico took in his surroundings. The cave was dark and damp and in the walls were enough jewels and precious metals to give Hazel a heart attack. Thinking about his sister, Nico's heart gave a funny lurch. He realized that he hadn't seen her since the Giant War had ended less than a month before and it had been a week since they'd Iris messaged. He resolved to Iris message her when he got back to the Order's Headquarters.

Gornuk ran his finger down the door and Nico heard the near silent unlocking of mechanisms. The door swung open to reveal a dark room about half the size of his cabin back at Camp. Nico stepped over the threshold of the vault and torches flared to light all around the room, it's warm glow driving away the shadows and illuminating the room. The light caught the coins shimmering in the centre of the vault and Nico's eyes widened. Mounds and columns of glittering gold, silver, and bronze coins. And all of it was at his disposal.

Nico quickly shook his head to regain control of his emotions and turned to Gornuk. "Do you have something I could put my gold in? I didn't bring a bag."

From his vest pocket, Gornuk produced a small leather bag with a simple drawstring tying it together. "Normally these cost 5 galleons, but as you are a direct descendant of Lady Hecate and the son and heir of Lord Hades, we've waved the fee. It's enchanted to be bottomless, so you can put anything in here." He also withdrew a folded piece of parchment. "This is your school list. Lord Ragnok instructed me to give you one."

"Thanks." Nico gave a small smile, unused to the gesture, but Will had told him to smile more often, so he would. Turning back to face the interior of the vault, Nico scooped a few handfuls of Wizarding currency and gold drachmas into the bag before going further in. Weapons hung on the walls and armour stood on stands beside them, but Nico only looked at them for a few moments. He already had a sword and he prefered to fight lightweight, relying on speed instead of protection. As an afterthought, he did strap a stygian knife and a sheath around his thigh, confident that it would be hidden by the gods-awful robes that the Wizards always wore. Towards the back of the vault, something caught his eye. He bent down and picked up a torn picture. Nico's eyes widened and filled with tears. It was a picture of his mother, Bianca, his father, and himself, taken just before World War Two had been declared. His father's face had been ripped from the photo, but Nico recognized the silver ring Hades wore and the tie around his neck. Nico had gotten Hades that tie for Father's Day and had been so proud of himself for buying it with his own money. Hades had laughed and picked Nico up, declaring it his favourite tie he'd ever gotten. Bianca's face smiled at him through the picture, immortalized in this picture forever. Nico brushed at a tear that had fallen when he looked at his mother's and Bianca's faces. He didn't remember much about his mother, so it was nice to see her face, but seeing Bianca again brought back mixed feelings. On one hand, he knew that he could never have her back and that seeing her face would only torture him further. On the other hand, it was reassuring knowing that now he could never forget her face and that she would be with the Nico in the picture for as long as the photo existed, which was longer than Nico would ever get with her. In the end, Nico wiped at the tears that had fallen down his cheeks and pocketed the photo.

Clearing his throat, Nico walked back to the trolley and thanked Gornuk for waiting. Brushing his hand on a sapphire, Nico reminded himself that even if Bianca was dead, he had another sister now and a new family. He wasn't alone anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

The afternoon rush had already set in when Nico stepped out of the bank.

' _Must have been in there longer than I thought.'_ Nico unfolded the parchment Gornuk had given him and studied the supply list. ' _Weird stuff_.'

 _Uniform:_

 _Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

 _Books:_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Albert Waffling_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _Standard Book of Spell, Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk_

 _Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard_

 _Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

 _Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky_

 _The Monstrous Book of Monsters by Edwardus Lima_

 _Other Equipment:_

 _1 wand_

 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

Nico stared at the list to make sure he'd read everything correctly. ' _Man, this school is weird_.'

oO0Oo

Nico stood outside a dusty old shop whose sign read, in peeling gold letter, 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC'. The windows were cracked and caked with dirt and grime. Nico wasn't so sure about the whole 'fine wands' part, but if this was the only wand shop in Diagon Alley, he wasn't about to get his hopes up. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

The front of the shop was small and musty. There was only a single chair for waiting customers to sit in and tall bookshelves filled with skinny boxes stretched behind the counter. Feeling a little uncomfortable, Nico rang the bell on the front desk and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer.

"Hello, young man. How may I help you?" A voice from the gloom caused Nico to jump as an old man stepped out of the gloom and stood up to the counter.

Nico cleared his throat and collected himself. "I need a wand."

"What happened to your old one?" The man eyed him suspiciously.

"Broke it." Nico said with a shrug. "Caught a curse it couldn't withstand." Nico hoped that made sense in this world, because he had no idea if things worked like that.

"Ah." Apparently, it did, because the old man stepped out from behind the counter and studied Nico before walked into the rows of bookshelves, muttering to himself as he went.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief, though he caught his breath again as the man came back, holding several boxes in his hands. The man introduced himself as Ollivander and set the boxes down on the counter.

Ollivander took the first wand out of its box and handed it delicately to Nico. "Applewood, unicorn hair, 10 inches."

Nico took it, but the moment he had his hand wrapped around the wood, the wand exploded, shards flying in every direction. Nico yelped and looked fearfully towards the wandmaker, stammering apologies, but Ollivander didn't seem mad, just curious.

"I do not think that was right for you." Ollivander handed Nico another wand. "Fir, dragon heartstring, 8 ½ inches."

This time, Nico took the wand hesitantly, but nothing happened until Ollivander told him to wave it. Feeling a little foolish, he did, and a jet of red light shot out from the wand and hit the window at the front of the shop, causing another crack to appear in the glass.

"Well," Nico said dryly. "I know where the cracks in the window come from."

"Indeed." Ollivander chuckled. "Let's try a different one."

oO0Oo

It seemed to Nico that he had tried hundreds of wands, but Ollivander just seemed to get happier as he handed him another wand that Nico knew wouldn't work.

"Hmm…" Ollivander looked around at the piles of wand boxes and the shards of wood from other exploded wands. He seemed deep in thought before a smile spread across his face and his silver eyes lit up. "Follow me."

Puzzled, Nico followed the old man into the back of the store and through a door into a workroom.

"This is where I make all my wands." explained Ollivander. "Since none of the wands out there seem to be a match for you, I'll have to make you a custom one." He gestured around the room. "Pick any wood or core that calls to you."

Nico wandered around the room, observing the jars and blocks of wood that resting on shelves and wondered what was in them. A few kinds of wood he recognized from furniture that decorated his father's palace; yew and poplar, but neither called to him. Then he felt an unexpected heat from a block of wood beside the poplar and Nico picked it up. A tingling sensation spread through his fingers as he beheld the light coloured block. The same thing happened again two shelves over and Nico picked up another pale block of wood and put it on top of the other. When no other woods called to him, Nico wandered over to the other side of the shop to the jars of cores, balancing the wood in one hand and reaching for the jars with the other. In the end, he had three jars and two blocks of wood balancing precariously in his arms when he walked over to Ollivander.

Ollivander, who had been darting around the rooms measuring Nico's limbs with a tape measure and was now writing them down and doing calculations, looked up. "That is a lot of cores."

Nico flushed. "They called to me, sir, but if-"

Ollivander cut him off. "Oh no, young man. I'm not criticizing. I'm simply amazed at the number of the cores of that nature."

"What nature?" Nico asked, but Ollivander had swept the items from his arms and didn't seem to hear him.

oO0Oo

Nico's eyes drooped as he relaxed in the chair at the front of Ollivander's shop. The old man had been puttering about in the back of his shop for nearly three hours now. Nico had already gone out and gotten everything on his list except a pet and had returned to the shop, hoping that his wand would be ready. No such luck. Nico was on the verge of getting up and asking Ollivander what he was doing when the old man exited his workshop and walked up the counter. "Mr. di Angelo, your wand is ready."

Nico reached for the sword hidden by the Mist on his belt. "How do you know my name?"

"My mother told me about you." The old man's eyes were twinkling. "Hecate sent me a dream telling me that you would come and request a wand of my making. She told me that you were powerful, but I didn't expect this."

Nico's grip on his sword relaxed and he walked up the counter, where Ollivander was taking a wand out of a dark coloured box. "Cypress and hawthorn wood. A core of thestral tail hair and ectoplasm. 11 ½ inches. Impregnated with basilisk venom. Unyielding." Ollivander handed the wand to Nico and seemed to hold his breath.

Nico grasped the wand and warmth spread through his fingertips and into his chest. He flicked the wand and purple sparks flew from the tip. Nico looked up at the wandmaker in awe. "Thank you, Mr. Ollivander." Nico smiled, but Ollivander's sad expression quickly caused it to fade. "Is everything alright?"

Ollivander sighed. "That wand, with the combination of the wood and the cores, is best suited for a wizard who has seen death and whose life is full of shadows."

Nico swallowed roughly. He remembered what he had said many years ago. _Only the dead respect me...and only out of fear_. He knew that wasn't true anymore, but it was sometimes hard to shake the feeling that he was alone with only the dead for company.

There was a moment of silence before Ollivander cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. "You will make a very powerful wizard, Mr. di Angelo. Best of luck to you."

"Thank you." Nico was still slightly unnerved about what Ollivander had said about him, but he looked down at his wand. "How much do I owe you-"

Ollivander cut him off and waved away the question. "Nothing. Nothing at all. For a Hero of Olympus on a quest for my mother, it is free."

oO0Oo

Nico exited the wand shop and shuddered, though he wasn't sure if it was from the late August breeze or from what Ollivander had said. The old man had hit closer to the truth than he probably realized. He had spent his whole life since finding out he was a demigod walking the shadows between right and wrong. He knew that many children of Hades succumbed to insanity early on in life and Nico was waiting for the day when he woke up to find himself insane. Pieces of it leaked in from time to time, Bryce Lawrence being the latest one to experience his wrath. Others had been monsters who had done unspeakable things and Nico had been glad to send them to Tartarus. Nico had seen more death than most his age. At fifteen, he was the veteran of two wars and the survivor of so many monster fights, Nico had lost count. He'd lost friends and family too early, too young.

' _Yes.'_ Nico thought ' _I would say I've seen death.'_

Nico shook himself out of his thoughts and looked up to see he was outside a store called 'Magical Menagerie'. He supposed that he'd started walking without noticing, though why he was outside this store, he had no idea. Shrugging, he pushed open the door. After all, it couldn't be worse than Ollivanders.

He was wrong. Of _course_ , he was.

The moment he stepped over the threshold, he was dive-bombed by owls, the cats arched their backs and hissed, and the toads retreated to the far ends of their cages.

"I'm so sorry." A shopkeeper ran towards him, shooing the owls away from Nico's face and trying to calm the cats down. "They don't usually act like this."

"It's fine." Nico grunted. "Animals usually don't like me."

The shopkeeper gave him an apologetic look. "Would you like to browse anyways?"

Nico shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Keeping well away from the owls and cats, Nico headed towards the back of the store to a section labeled 'Unusual Pets'.

The creatures there sure were unusual. Snakes dozed in cages, uninteresting in Nico's presence. Something called a pygmy puff bounced around on the shelves, playing with a mole-like creature that was trying to steal silver eggs from a winged snake's nest. Rats scampered around on the floor, causing Nico to stumble as he tried to avoid stepping on them. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico saw something black swoop down from the roof and land in front of him.

It was a raven. Nico studied the bird in fascination and the bird seemed to study him. The raven's feathers were sleek and black, a colour so dark it looked like the feathers were from Thanatos's wings themselves. Its beak was sharp and shiny. However, it was the eyes that caught his attention. They were like no raven's he'd seen before. Most of the ones he'd seen in his father's palace had black eyes, but this one didn't. This raven's eyes were gold with a ring of sky blue around them. It reminded Nico of Hazel and Will.

"Would you like to come with me?" Nico asked softly.

With a squawk, the raven hopped off the shelf and onto Nico's outstretched arm.

Nico grinned, an action that was becoming more common after the Giant War. It seemed like he'd have a piece of Will and Hazel with him went he went to Hogwarts. "You need a name." Nico thought for a moment before he smiled. "Icarus. I've met his ghost. Nice guy, even if he can be a little overconfident and curious at times."

Raven on his arm, Nico walked back to the counter and paid twelve galleons for the bird, along with a cage, stand, and treats.

Nico walked out of the shop and into the waning sunlight. His cauldron with his books and robes was in his hand and his wand was next to his sword on his belt. Nico grinned at Icarus. "Lots of shadows today."


	7. Chapter 7

**I own nothing. Everything you recognize is the property of either Rick Riordan or J.K. Rowling.**

Nico stopped the trolley in front of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station. Mortals rushed past him, going about their business without even knowing that there was supposedly a magical platform hidden inside the barrier. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that this was the craziest thing he's had to believe in the last couple of years.

A clattering from behind him caused Nico to turn his head at look towards the source of the sound. The Weasley's, Hermione's, and Harry's trolleys had stopped a few feet away and were looking at Nico expectantly.

"What?" Nico asked. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Fred stared at him in disbelief. "Aren't you going to get on the platform?"

"I would," Nico said. "If I had any idea _how_ to."

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Weasley hurried forwards. "I'm so sorry. I forgot that you don't know how to get onto the platform." Nico rolled his eyes as she continued. "Just run at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 and you'll arrive at platform 9 ¾."

"Right," Nico grumbled. "Because that should be _so_ obvious."

George snickered but stopped abruptly when his mother shot him a look. Glancing back one more time, Nico looked to see if they were just pulling his leg, but their faces betrayed nothing by seriousness. "Okay." Lining his trolley up with the barrier, Nico broke out into a jog and started towards the entrance to the platform. The brick wall got closer with every step and a few feet from the barrier, Nico closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable crash that would follow.

When none came, Nico opened his eyes and took in the sight of the magical platform. Steam billowed around the large, scarlet train, blanketing the platform and the people standing on it in a layer of white smoke. The engine was a large scarlet and black train with the words ' _Hogwarts Express'_ written on it in glittering gold letters. Nico was broken from his thoughts when was voice said, "It's a lot to take in. I remember my first time here." Nico turned to see Harry had parked his trolley beside Nico's. "Is this not what it's like to get to your school?"

"No." Nico breathed. "It's not quite as...organized."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ron called his name and Nico turned to see Sirius sitting expectantly, in animagus form, beside the red-head. Harry smiled apologetically and pushed his trolley back towards his friends. "I'll be back."

Nico didn't wait for him and the moment Harry was out of sight, Nico continued on towards an open door on the train. Smoke curled around his legs and the chatter of parents seeing their kids off to school filled the air. Icarus squawked angrily at the owls that puffed their feathers at him and the cats that hissed when they passed. Nico reached his fingers through the cage and stroked the raven's soft head. "Once we get on the train, I'll let you out. Just stay patient for a little while longer."

oO0Oo

Once seated on the train, Nico unclasped the door of the cage and Icarus hopped out and flew up to rest on the bars one of the luggage compartments overhead. Hearing the train's whistle blow and the humming of machinery starting up as the train pulled out of the station, Nico pulled a pad of paper and a quill from his trunk and began penning a letter to Will about all that had happened since they'd Iris messaged a few days before when he'd arrived at Grimmauld Place. Halfway through the letter, however, he was interrupted when the door to his compartment slid open and the youngest Weasley, Ginny if he remembered correctly, entered with a few kids trailing behind her. "Hi, Nico. Mum told me to check on you to make sure you got on the train alright. Do you mind if we sit here?"

Giving a nod of approval, Nico pretended to return to writing the letter, though, in truth, he was studying the new people. He was usually against new people, but these kids seemed alright. Harry and Ginny sat across from him in silence, their trunks in the compartments above them. A slightly chubby boy with blond hair sat nervously beside Harry, cradling what seemed to be a cactus in a pot. The last person that entered was a pale girl with long dirty blonde hair and silvery eyes. She sat unafraid next to Nico and proceeded to read a magazine upside down. Nico was starting to wonder if all wizards were as weird as they seemed.

There was silence for a few moments before Harry tried to strike up a conversation. "So, how were everyone's summers?"

"I had a very pleasant summer." said the pale girl dreamily. "Daddy and I went looking for Crumple Horned Snorkacks."

Ginny laughed, though it was a bit forced. "Did you find them, Luna?"

The girl Nico now knew was Luna shook her head. "No, though Daddy thinks they might have migrated to Sweden for the winter. We're going to look there during Christmas break."

Harry raised his eyebrows curiously at Ginny, then turned to the blond boy. "How about you, Neville?"

Neville's eyes lit up and he gestured to the plant n his arms. "Great Uncle Algie gave me this _mimbulus mimbletonia_ for my birthday. They're really rare!"

"What about you, Nico?" Nico jumped when Ginny addressed him. "What did you do this summer?"

"Nothing much," Nico said with a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant. "Visited some family in California and then went on a quick trip to Rome."

' _And saved the world.'_ he added mentally

Luna tilted her head. "Your accent sounds Italien. Is that where you're from?"

"No." Nico set his quill down and stared off into the distance. "I lived there when I was very young, but for the past few years, my home's been in New York."

"Wow!" Neville said, clutching his cactus tighter. "Does that mean you're a transfer student?"

Nico nodded his head. "I've come from Hecate's School of Magic in America to England for a year."

"Why?" Ginny was getting dangerously close to the truth and Nico was trying to formulate an answer that seemed believable when a knock came from their door.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

' _Save by the old lady.'_ Nico thought.

Harry dug around in his pocket and produced several silver sickles. Nico copied him and they walked up to the trolley together. Harry order a stack of pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs, both of which Nico had no idea of what they were. Carefully observing the sweets on the trolley, Nico chose a box of something called Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Bean. He paid the woman six silver sickles and went back to his compartment to sit with Harry and his friends. Sitting beside the window, he shared the beans with Icarus, who seemed to have a talent for picking the bad tasting beans and actually enjoyed them. Everything was going fine until Nico chose a red bean. He bit into it and nearly threw up.

"Nico!" Harry sat forward in his seat. "Are you alright?"

Nico swallowed and grimaced. "Yeah. Just got a bad bean."

Ron, who had come in with Hermione earlier, smiled sympathetically. "What flavour was it? Spinach? Vomit? Boogers?"

"Pomegranate."

Everyone in the compartment exchanged quizzical looks but didn't say anything.

oO0Oo

Nico stood amongst nervous first years, waiting for the doors of the Great Hall to open. The Headmistress McGonagall had given them a welcome speech and then had left the eleven-year-olds, plus Nico, to wait for the cue to go in the Great Hall. Suddenly, the doors opened and the procession of children were led inside. Nico wasn't exactly sure what to expect. On the ride over, his compartment-mates had mentioned something called 'houses' and 'sorting'. He was not expecting a ratty old hat. He _certainly_ not expecting the hat to start singing.

 _In times of old, when I was new,_

 _And Hogwarts barely started,_

 _The founders of our noble school_

 _Thought never to be parted._

 _United by a common goal,_

 _They had the selfsame yearning_

 _To make the world's best magic school_

 _And pass along their learning._

 _"Together we will build and teach"_

 _The four good friends decided._

 _And never did they dream that they_

 _Might someday be divided._

 _For were there such friends anywhere_

 _As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

 _Unless it was the second pair_

 _Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,_

 _So how could it have gone so wrong?_

 _How could such friendships fail?_

 _Why, I was there, so I can tell_

 _The whole sad, sorry tale._

 _Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_

 _Whose ancestry's purest."_

 _Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

 _Intelligence is surest."_

 _Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

 _With brave deeds to their name."_

 _Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot_

 _And treat them just the same."_

 _These differences caused little strife_

 _When first they came to light._

 _For each of the four founders had_

 _A house in which they might_

 _Take only those they wanted, so,_

 _For instance, Slytherin_

 _Took only pure-blood wizards_

 _Of great cunning just like him._

 _And only those of sharpest mind_

 _Were taught by Ravenclaw_

 _While the bravest and the boldest_

 _Went to daring Gryffindor_

 _Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest_

 _and taught them all she knew,_

 _Thus, the houses and their founders_

 _Maintained friendships firm and true._

 _So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

 _For several happy years,_

 _But then discord crept among us_

 _Feeding on our faults and fears._

 _The Houses that, like pillars four_

 _Had once held up our school_

 _Now turned upon each other and_

 _Divided, sought to rule._

 _And for a while it seemed the school_

 _Must meet an early end._

 _What with duelling and with fighting_

 _And the clash of friend on friend._

 _And at last there came a morning_

 _When old Slytherin departed_

 _And though the fighting then died out_

 _He left us quite downhearted._

 _And never since the founders four_

 _Were whittled down to three_

 _Have the Houses been united_

 _As they once were meant to be._

 _And now the Sorting Hat is here_

 _And you all know the score:_

 _I sort you into Houses_

 _Because that is what I'm for._

 _But this year I'll go further,_

 _Listen closely to my song:_

 _Though condemned I am to split you_

 _Still I worry that it's wrong,_

 _Though I must fulfil my duty_

 _And must quarter every year_

 _Still I wonder whether sorting_

 _May not bring the end I fear._

 _Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

 _The warning history shows,_

 _For our Hogwarts is in danger_

 _From external, deadly foes._

 _And we must unite inside her_

 _Or we'll crumble from within_

 _I have told you, I have warned you..._

 _Let the Sorting now begin._

"Well," Nico mumbled dryly under his breath. "That wasn't depressing at all."

Professor McGonagall took a scroll from her cloak and unfurled it, reading names from the parchment. Nico stood there, feeling more nervous with every passing second. He didn't like what the Sorting Hat had said. What if this war was harder than he had initially thought it to be? Finally, after everyone but Nico was sorted, Dumbledore stood up and spread his hands for silence. "This." he began. "Is a new transfer student. Nico di Angelo has arrived here from America for the year to study our ways of magic. I hope you all treat him as you would treat any other student."

He sat back down and McGonagall called out his name. "Di Angelo, Nico."

Nico sat on the stool and she dropped the hat on his head. He thought he'd gotten over the shock of the hat singing, but then it spoke in his mind.

" _It's been a long time since I've sorted a demigod of your power and responsibility, Mr. di Angelo."_

Nico jumped when the voice spoke. " _W-who are you?"_

" _I am the Sorting Hat, and it's my job to see where you belong. So if you could drop those impressive metal shields and give me access to your memories, I'll do just that."_

" _Fine."_ Instantly, Nico's mind was filled with memories, many of which he'd rather forget. Him and Bianca standing on a snowy cliff as Percy Jackson fought off a manticore. Bianca's death and the lonely years that followed. Tricking Percy into seeing his father in the Underworld. Killing Bryce Lawrence in South Carolina. Memories swirled past him in a blur before Nico had enough. " _Stop!"_

The Sorting Hat was silence for a few moments. " _Well, Mr. di Angelo, we have a decision to make. Your past actions make you a perfect candidate for both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Which do you choose? I will warn you. Whichever house you choose, you will face prejudice and create many enemies."_

Gritting his teeth, Nico spoke to the hat in his mind, " _I was sent here by my father to end a war, not make friends. Which house will allow me to take down Tom Riddle quickly and quietly?"_

Nico could imagine a wicked smile dancing across the Sorting Hat's face. " _It's been a long time since I have had a student respond with an answer anywhere close to that. I think this might be an interesting year at Hogwarts. But if you're sure, I know just the house that will help you defeat Voldemort from the inside."_

"SLYTHERIN!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Anything you recognize does not belong to me.**

The clapping in the Great Hall was polite, yet nervous as Nico took off the hat and proceeded over to the table where children clad in green and silver sat. Whispers followed him to his seat, just like they had whenever any other wizard was selected to go to Slytherin. Nico could feel Dumbledore's thoughtful gaze on him as he sat on the bench beside a boy his age with slick backed platinum blonde hair.

With the sorting now finished, Dumbledore stood up and spread his hands. "To the new students, welcome. To everyone else, welcome back. Tuck in!"

Nico jumped in surprise as Dumbledore sat down and food appeared on the previously empty platters in front of him. Glancing around at the other people piling food onto their plates, Nico took a small portion of ham and potatoes and brought the fork to his lips. Before he took a bite, however, he set the fork down and, careful to make sure no one was watching, summoned a small flame of hellfire under the table in his hand. Slipping a piece of his ham under the table, he offered a silent prayer to the gods for his continued safety and well-being. Satisfied, Nico extinguished the flame and continued to eat, this time observing his house-mates as he ate. The blond kid next to him was laughing and making haughty gestures that mocked the wizards at other tables.

"So, you're the transfer student." Nico looked up to see the blond kid looking at him with mild interest, the same way one might look at a sleeping hellhound, like they didn't quite know what to make of it. Nico rolled his eyes slightly. The question was obvious and didn't require a verbal answer, so he just nodded. The blond boy didn't like that and sniffed indignantly. "I'm Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy estate." There was a pause like he expected Nico to introduce himself. When the son of Hades didn't, Malfoy huffed and turned to ignore Nico, which Nico was perfectly fine with. As he told the Sorting Hat, he was sent here on a combat mission, not to associate with the wizards, much.

Soon, the meats and vegetables on the platters faded and were replaced by desserts of all imaginings. Nico didn't touch them except to pluck an apple from a dish and soon after, they faded too. By this time, Nico was starting to feel sleepy and had to force himself to keep his eyes open. The other wizards seated at the Slytherin table seemed to be having the same battle of wills that he did, but the three other tables did not have the same composure as they did. Nico estimated that over a quarter of the wizards at each table were either asleep on the table or about to fall out of their chairs. Dumbledore stood and spread his hands. He spoke, but Nico partly turned him out. What the headmaster had to say was of little interest to him and of even less importance. Nico brushed his hair from his face and thought of Will. The son of Apollo was probably relaxing by the canoe lake in the last of the warm summer sun, having just finished his afternoon activities. Nico wondered briefly if Will was thinking of him and his mouth quirked up in a small smile as he remembered the promise Will had made him swear. Seeing his sunny boyfriend marching down to the Underworld to go up against his father would be a sight to behold.

" _Hem, hem,"_

Nico looked up to see the new teacher he vaguely remembered Dumbledore introducing as Professor Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The woman stood, revealing a toadlike body clothed in so much pink it gave Nico nausea. "Thank you, Headmaster," said Umbridge in a tone that made Nico's eyes narrow. "For those kind words of welcome." she continued on and Nico observed, in mild amusement, the varying levels of disgust and loathing on his fellow housemate's faces. He snapped back to attention when he realized she was coming to the end of her speech and he might have missed something vital. "...because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forwards, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be _prohibited_." She squeaked out the last word and - was it Nico's imagination - seemed to glare in his direction? One thing was for certain. He would be keeping an eye on her.

"Thank you for that illuminating speech, Professor Umbridge," Dumbledore said as she sat down amidst forced applause. He said a few more words before dismissing the school for bed.

Malfoy scoffed. "I'd hardly call wasting our time _illuminating_. Come along, Pansy. We must escort the new snakes to the common room." As the eleven-year-olds now a part of his house stood up and formed a clump behind 'Pansy', Malfoy's eyes landed on Nico. "That includes you, di Angelo."

oO0Oo

Nico stood with all the other new Slytherin's in front of a bare stone wall in the dungeons. The air down there was damp and musty and when Nico breathed, his breath hung in puffs of mist that banded together with all the other from the wizards and witches standing next to him.

"Salazar." When Pansy spoke the word, the stone wall crumbled into its sides to reveal a dark room illuminated only by green lights. Following the lead of all the other students, Nico stepped into the common road and took it all it. Carved on the walls were intricate designs that Nico found slightly familiar and vowed to inspect later. Handing all around the room were tapestries that depicted everything from great victories to terrible deeds. Emerald green couches and chairs were scattered around the room, though most were centered around a warm orange fire crackling in the hearth.

Malfoy turned around to face them and spread his hands. "Welcome to Slytherin house, the best of the best." The conversation around them stilled as the prefect addressed the first-years. "I'm Draco Malfoy and this is Pansy Parkinson, the other Slytherin house prefect. As members of Slytherin house, we pride ourselves on the legacy we leave in Hogwarts, and as such, losing house points and disobeying the rules set forth by the house is not tolerated."

"These rules will be explained in depth in a moment," Parkinson said, taking up the speech now. "But first something must be understood first. You were chosen by the Sorting Hat because you have the potential to be great and we expect you to live up to that expectation." The first-years were hanging onto her every word, though Nico listened, but was weary of the false tone of cheeriness the girl was putting on. "That means that you follow the rules and you will succeed. The first rule is that what ever quarrels you have with your housemates inside these walls _stay_ there. Outside Slytherin house, you must present a united front. No one goes anywhere without another Slytherin with them." Nico rolled his eyes. Like he'd obey that rule.

"In addition to that, you do not discriminate against anyone else in the house because of blood. Second rule is that ability is what matters in Slytherin, not lineage." Malfoy said these words bitterly, like they were a line he was forced to say. "If a housemate comes to you seeking help, you are rule-bound to help them in anyway you can, no matter if their father is Lord of an Ancient and Noble House or a muggle milkman." A small grimace passed over his features, but it was only there for a second before it disappeared. "The third rule is most important. If you must make trouble, _do not get caught_. Now that you are a part of this house, the professors, with the exception of our Head of House, Professor Snape, will no longer trust you. They will _always_ take the words of another student of a different house over your own, no matter the witnesses. So if you must break the rules, make sure there are no witnesses, because if you are caught, nothing you say or do will save you."

"Thank you, Mister Malfoy and Miss Parkinson." came a greasy voice from a painting next to the fireplace. Nico turned to see Snape step out of the now open portrait hole and glide up to assess the children. His eyes lingered over Nico briefly and he gave a small nod, as if confirming a theory he had been musing over for awhile. "The password for the common room changes every fortnight and will be posted next to the common room exit. If you forget the password, you will be unlucky enough to be left out there by ourselves until someone with sympathy comes by to let you in." Nico thought that was kinda harsh, especially if you were out in the freezing dungeon halls all night. "Every house member is expected to join their companions in the Great Hall for at least two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. What you do at lunch is your own decision. I also expect that you retain top grades during your stay at Hogwarts. I will not have you tarnish Slytherin's hard won reputation in a single test. If you have any concerns, be it about grades, homework, or something within your social circles, my office is directly connected to that portrait and you may speak with me in confidentiality. That is all."

The potions master's gaze roamed over all of them again. "Welcome to Slytherin. Make us proud."


	9. Chapter 9

**Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan.**

"Hey, di Angelo, follow us." Malfoy gestures for Nico to follow the other boys his age down a torch-lit corridor. "This is where our dorms are."

Nico pushes open the door at Malfoy's insistence and was greeted by the sight of four other boys his age relaxing around the room in different areas of the dorm. When Nico entered, a dark-skinned boy stood up and sauntered towards him, hand outstretched. "My name is Blaise Zabini, heir to the Zabini clan." He had an Italian accent that triggered old memories of his childhood in Nico's head. "You can call me Blaise. I like potions and pretty witches and I play Chaser on the House Quidditch team." He seemed easier going than Malfoy, more charismatic and at ease with the idea of having a new student joining their year.

One by one, the other boys came up and introduced themselves to Nico. There was Theodore Nott, a thin, nervous boy with brown hair that told Nico that he could call him Teddy and said he liked transfiguration and ancient runes. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle spoke gruffly to Nico, saying only their names, which Nico suspected was the limit to their intelligence. Draco Malfoy went last. "Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy line. One of the wealthiest purebloods in Britain and Slytherin 5th year prefect. The best seeker Slytherin has seen in a century and Professor Snape's godson." He seemed exceptionally proud of that and stuck his chin out with an arrogant smile on his face.

Nico nodded and turned to where his trunk was situated at the base of what he assumed was his bed. It took him a moment to realize that the other boys were waiting in expectant silence for him to say something. "What?"

"Well, normally," Blaise said, "When someone introduces the self to you, you return the favour."

Giving an almost inaudible sigh, Nico set his pajamas down on the bed and turned to his roommates. "My name is Nico di Angelo, please call me Nico, and I'm the American transfer student."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "We knew that already."

"Well then, what else do you want to know?" Nico asked irritably. He was tired and just wanted to finish his letter to Will before climbing into bed and sleeping for, hopefully, a solid eight hours.

"How about...where you're from?" said Teddy. "We know almost nothing about you."

Getting the feeling he wouldn't be escaping this interrogation session early, he put his clothes on the bed and turned to face them. "Fine. I'm from Italy but I've lived in New York for the past few years."

That seemed to interest Blaise even more. "Really? You're Italian?"

Nico shrugged. "I moved to America when I was young, but my family is originally from Italy on my mom's side."

"What about your dad?" Malfoy asked, "And what of your blood status?"

"I thought you said lineage didn't matter?" Nico said with a dry smile, crossing his arms and leaning against the bedpost closest to him. "My mother was a mor-muggle and my father comes from a long line of magical blood in Greece."

Blaise wrinkled his nose. "So you're a half-blood? Pity. I thought you might have had the potential to be a great wizard."

Nico rolled his eyes and gathered his pajamas in his arms. "Pity," he told Blaise as he pushed past him into the bathroom. "And here I thought you might have the potential to not be a prejudiced idiot."

oO0Oo

Fifteen minutes later, Nico exited the bathroom feeling much better than when he went in. Nothing like a quick shower to calm you down. He wore a purple shirt with the words _Camp Jupiter_ written on it in Latin, a parting gift from Reyna when he explained he'd be staying at Camp Half-Blood year round. He suspected it was also a not-so-subtle way of saying that he would always have a home with the Romans. He also wore black sweatpants with rainbow skulls on them, a gag gift from Percy, Jason, and Leo, but they were really comfortable, so he kept them. His hair was wet and tousled from the shower and his pale olive skin had gained some colour from the heat of the water. In all, he was too exhausted and comfortable to put up much of a protest when Blaise corner him after he'd put away his clothes and apologized for being an idiot, even going so far as to hold out his hand for Nico to shake it and reintroducing himself. Even though he didn't want to, Nico accepted the hand and agreed to put the past behind him. Holding grudges were a fatal flaw for children of Hades and the way Blaise had insulted his parentage reminded him of when the kids of Camp Half-Blood didn't accept him and he ran away to the labyrinth. The only thought that kept him from breaking Blaise's hand was that he had to somehow turn the tide of the war and it would start with the future generation of Death Eaters so he'd better find a way to get them to trust him.

Before going to bed, Nico sat down at the dark mahogany table with a quill in one hand and a bottle of ink in the other and finished his letter to Will. He could picture his boyfriend right now, eating dinner with the other campers and watching as Apollo left the horizon and Artemis drove her chariot across the stars. Setting the letter down on the desk, Nico got up and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Someone's sleepy." Teddy was grinning at him from his own bed, a dark blue book with writing in a strange language in the cover between his hands. "Writing home to family?"

"Something like that." Nico agreed, crawling between the dark green and black covers of his bed. He gave one last look of the room before closing his eyes, a habit formed of sleeping in strange places to make sure there were no monsters hidden in the shadows. Malfoy was polishing a broomstick and laughing with Blaise about whatever had happened during their summer. Crabbe was asleep snoring loudly in his bed, the covers tangled around his limbs as he shifted in his sleep. Goyle was furiously scribbling something in a piece of parchment and Nico guessed, by the open book beside him, that it was homework he hadn't yet finished. Teddy, of course, was still reading that strange book but was now waving his wand and muttering under his breath at whatever he found on the pages. Yawning one more time, Nico closed his eyes and drifted into the land of Morpheus.

oO0Oo

In the morning, Nico woke before the other boys and made his way down to the common room to wait for them, school supplies in his bag. In his hand he had one of the books he'd grabbed, even though it wasn't on the supplies list; _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_. He figured if he was going to be stopping a war, it would be best to figure out everything he could about what he was facing before diving head first into battle. By the time the other boys stumbled down the corridor bleary-eyed, Nico had struggled his way through the first chapter. He wasn't able to get any of his books in Ancient Greek, but he did manage to find copies in Latin, though it didn't come as easily to him as the other language and he had to double check his translations to make sure he was reading them correctly. Still, he made better progress than he might have of it was in English or even Italian. Marking his page, Nico closed the book with a relieved sigh when Teddy approached him. "We're going down to the Great Hall for breakfast if you want to join us."

"Sure." Nico stood, replacing the book with the others and stretched. "Breakfast sounds like a good idea."

As they walked, Blaise shouldered his way beside Nico, trying to get a conversation out of him. "Were you down there long?"

"About an hour."

"Why so early? You looked exhausted last night. I thought for sure you would be the last one of us to wake up."

"I'm an early riser." _And I got more sleep than I usually do_. Nico added mentally.

Malfoy shrugged. "Let him wake up early if he wants too. At least he didn't wake the rest of us up on his way to the bathroom." He shot a glare at Teddy, who blushed.

Blaise barked out a laugh. "Teddy wasn't the one who spent twenty minutes styling his hair."

The other boys snickered in amusement as Malfoy's face flushed an embarrassed pink. Nico was bemused. Was this how friends acted when there wasn't a care in the world? Sure, the kids at Camp were funny and were good friends with each other, but there was always that underlying tone of sadness and fear. It took courage to crack jokes knowing that each word you say might be your last. It was hard to look at your friends without remembering the siblings and cousins that had died young at the hands of monsters and enemy demigods, kids who would never get to grow old in peace. The wounds of the Giant War were still fresh and they still stung. The kids here at Hogwarts didn't seem to know how foreign it would be to so many demigods just seeing the sheer amount happiness on the faces of the students here, finally figuring out just how messed up their lives really were.

"-ico?"

Nico shook his head to clear the thoughts as his dorm mates looked at him in slight concern. "Sorry, must have gotten lost in thought for a moment there. What's up?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Teddy said hesitantly. "You had a blank look on your face."

Waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, Nico brushed the question aside. "Yeah. Just daydreaming. Anyways, why did you call me?"

Blaise gave him a strange look but didn't comment on it anymore. "We were asking what your favourite class is going to be?"

"I'm kind of looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts," Nico said, putting his hands into his pockets as they traveled the large stone halls of Hogwarts towards the Great Hall.

Malfoy scoffed. "That toad up there? Father says she's not going to teach us anything. She was appointed by Minister Fudge. She doesn't know anything about DADA, but she's a Pureblood idealist so she's bound to teach us the proper things."

However, the talk of classes made Nico realize just how badly school was going to be if he didn't learn magic quickly. After all, not knowing magic would be one of the first signs that he wasn't a wizard and he would prefer to keep that quiet for as long as possible.

They walked in silence for several more minutes before Malfoy spun around to face Nico, still walking towards the doors Nico could see in the distance. "By the way, I say you chumming around with Potter and the Weasels and Granger at Kings Cross yesterday. Word of advice: don't. They are constantly getting into trouble and it will paint a target on your back if you hang out with them."

"Duly noted," Nico said, passing through the large oak doors to the Great Hall. He sat down beside Teddy and Malfoy, both of whom were too occupied with talking with the other house members to see Nico burn a slice of his bacon under the table. Crabbe and Goyle, who sat next to Blaise opposite him, shoved food disgustingly in their mouths as Blaise tried to ignore the half-chewed pieces of food flying around his plate. Pitying the other boy slightly, Nico shuffled over on the bench and cocked his head at the seat beside him. Smiling slightly, Blaise moved his plate around the table and plopped down next to Nico.

Nico was finishing his second slice of toast and jam when the post arrived. There was a great flapping of wings as Nico looked up to see owls of all shapes, sizes, and breeds descend from the rafters carrying parcels and envelopes in their talons. He scanned the ceiling, looking for Icarus, when something swooped down from the shadows and perched on his shoulder. The son of Hades grinned. "Hey, Icarus. Anything for me?" He stroked the raven's chest plumages, which puffed out importantly as the bird bared his left claw. Attached on the claw was a small package with an even smaller folded piece of paper tied on it. Giving his bird the last half of his toast, Nico attached Will's letter to Icarus's leg and undid the package and read the letter. It was in Ancient Greek, of course, but Nico could read it just fine.

 _This amulet will grant you the magic needed to_

 _attend class. It will also put the knowledge of_

 _four past years of learning in your head so you_

 _can better act like a normal student._

 _-Aunt H_

Inside the package was a silver pendant on a silver chain imprinted with the design of the wheel of Hecate. Nico grinned and clasped the amulet around his neck. Instantly his mind was filled with knowledge he shouldn't have and lessons he never attended. Something seemed to flow through his veins; a deadly power leashed just below the surface that Nico _had_ to control. His wand seemed to come alive in his hand, buzzing with the power that flowed through it. Nico doubted that a normal wizard would notice those things but he was a demigod and could sense things ordinary mortals couldn't.

"Mr. di Angelo." Nico looked up to see Snape standing over him, pushing a paper in his face. "Your schedule. Follow Mr. Malfoy to attend your classes and do _not_ be late."

With a swish of his cloak, the potions master was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own** **nothing.**

Nico scanned his schedule. It was hard to read, being in English and all, and eventually, he had to get Malfoy to read out his schedule while he wrote the Ancient Greek equivalent on the top.

 _ **Monday**_

 _Divination 9:00 - 10:30_

 _Break 10:30 - 10:45_

 _Charms with the Hufflepuffs 10:45 - 11:30_

 _Spare 11:30 - 1:00_

 _Lunch 1:00 - 2:00_

 _DADA with the Gryffindors 2:00 - 3:30_

 _Divination 3:30 - 4:15_

 _Dinner 4:15 - 6:15_

 _Practical Astronomy with the Ravenclaws 9:15 - 10:30_

 _ **Tuesday**_

 _Care of Magical Creatures 9:00 - 9:45_

 _Break 9:45 - 10:45_

 _Herbology with the Ravenclaws 10:45 - 11:30_

 _Break 11:30 - 2:00_

 _Charms with the Hufflepuffs 2:00 - 3:30_

 _Spare 3:30 - 4:15_

 _Dinner 4:15 - 6:15_

 _ **Wednesday**_

 _Care of Magical Creatures 9:00 - 10:30_

 _Break 10:30 - 10:45_

 _DADA with the Gryffindors 10:45 - 11:30_

 _Spare 11:30 - 1:00_

 _Lunch 1:00 - 2:00_

 _Herbology with the Ravenclaws 2:00 - 3:30_

 _Spare 3:30 - 4:15_

 _Dinner 4:15 - 6:15_

 _ **Thursday**_

 _Spare 9:00 - 10:30_

 _Break 10:30 - 10:45_

 _Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs 10:45 - 11:30_

 _Flying Lessons 11:30 - 1:00_

 _Lunch 1:00 - 2:00_

 _Potions with the Gryffindors 2:00 - 3:30_

 _History of Magic with the Ravenclaws 3:30 - 4:15_

 _Dinner 4:15 - 6:15_

 _Theoretical Astronomy with the Ravenclaws 6:15 - 7:00_

 _ **Friday**_

 _Spare 9:00 - 10:30_

 _Break 10:30 - 10:45_

 _Potions with the Gryffindors 10:45 - 11:30_

 _History of Magic with the Ravenclaws 11:30 - 1:00_

 _Lunch 1:00 - 2:00_

 _Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs 2:00 - 3:30_

 _Spare 3:30 - 4:15_

 _Dinner 4:15 - 6:15_

"Not bad," Malfoy mused while studying his schedule. "At least the Old Coot didn't put us with the Gryffindorks as much as he did last year."

Nico said nothing and instead picked up his bookbag. He began walking towards the doors of the Great Hall, then stopped. He realized that he didn't know where he was going.

"C'mon," Blaise caught up to him and ruffled his hair. "Teddy will take you to the classroom."

Thanking the dark-skinned boy, Nico asked where he was going.

"Draco and I have Arithmancy right now and Crabbe and Goyle also take Divination, though it's only because it is an easy subject to pass."

Teddy caught up to Nico and grinned. "I hope you're fine with predictions of your death. Professor Trelawney predicts a student's death almost every week."

That stopped Nico dead in his tracks. He'd had enough death predictions for a lifetime. "Is the professor a reliable seer?"

"Nah," Teddy waved his hand dismissively. "I heard that she got the job because she's descended from a famous seer, but although she claims to, it's pretty obvious she doesn't have the Sight."

Feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Nico relaxed somewhat. Maybe he could get through this year without any prophecies or omens of death.

oO0Oo

After a long walk through the castle, Nico arrived at the tower where the classroom was situated. His legs hard started aching after the fifth staircase up and now that he was at the top of the tower, they felt like jelly. Teddy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all panting and hand their hands on their knees in an attempt to catch their breath.

"A couple of weeks of that," gasped Teddy. "Will get you into shape in no time."

Despite being breathless, Nico huffed out a short laugh. "So, where is this class?" he asked, looking around.

Suddenly, a trapdoor in the ceiling opened and a rope ladder dropped down. A melodic voice descended from the room above and invited them up. After giving Teddy a quizzical look, Nico gripped the rope ladder and climbed into the classroom, ignoring the sudden pang of nostalgia remembering how the Argo 2 had once had a rope ladder just like this one. Some of his best memories had been built because of that boat and the prophecy it was a part of.

Nico pulled himself up into the wooden floor and stood up, glancing at the room. It smelled suffocatingly of a swirling combination of perfume, ink, smoke, and tea. Tables of two and three chairs were clustered around the room, making a labyrinth of wooden obstacles. Quickly picking a spot near the corner of the room, Nico sat down and tried to blend into the shadows as much as he could without anyone noticing.

No luck.

"Nico!" The son of Hades turned to see Harry waving at him and gesturing to the empty seat next to him. Ron doesn't look too happy about the invitation, but no one else is paying attention to them, so Nico figured that it's alright to go and sit with them.

Making his way carefully across the room to where Harry and Aron sat, Nico pulled out a chair and sat beside them. "How's it going?"

Rob eyed him suspiciously. "Fine. Hey, you seemed like a good enough guy at the Headquarters, so how did you get into Slytherin?"

"Not everyone who goes into Slytherin is a Death Eater, Ron." Nico raised an eyebrow. "Or else why would Slytherin students still be allowed to even be at Hogwarts if they're just going to defect in the end and use their knowledge for evil?"

"I guess," Ron considered it for a moment. "I guess you're right." He blushed as red as a beet from the tips of his orange hair right down to his fingertips.

Harry tried to say something, but before he could, a lady in robes so...interesting they gave Nico vertigo and she wore glasses that made her eyes look like those of a bug, stood up at the front and spread her hand. "Good morning, class. It is wonderful to see you all after such a long g summer. The Inner Eye, however, has told me that over the summer, many of you forgot the basics of Divination, which the Inner Eye has told me you will need to know for your O. . For this reason, we will begin the semester by reviewing the fundamentals of this course, starting with tea leaves. Please grab a teacup from the cabinet and I will come around with tea."

A collective groan rippled through the students along with the scraping of wood on wood as students from all houses stood to retrieve either a pink or a blue teacup from a shelf next to the sweltering fireplace.

oO0Oo

After an hour of sipping tea and trying to avoid eye contact with Teddy, who was looking very miffed that Nico sat with some Gryffindors, everyone was finished their drinks and Professor Trelawney instructed them to swirl the soggy tea leaves around in the cup three times before taking out their divination books and interpreting the symbols left behind in the cup. Despite himself, Nico found himself not having fun, per say, but not exactly hating the course either. It was pretty funny watching Harry and Ron try to interpret each other's tea leaves.

"I don't know, mate," Harry said. "For this angle, it looks like a sword which means…death in the future, but if you turn it this way, it looks like a cross, the symbol for...happiness."

Ron laughed. "Better than yours. There's a squiggly line that sort of looks like a sideways 'z' which means...power but it also looks like the symbol for 'trail' which means...great adventures. Weird."

Nico tunes them out as they started analyzing his cup and scanned the room. His eyes met Teddy's, who shook his head slightly. Nico made a questioning gesture and Teddy responded by cocking a head at the other occupants of the table. Right. Fraternizing with Gryffindors was frowned upon. Nico rolled his eyes and turned back in his seat, where Harry and Ron were just predicting that he would die because of the undead. Nico had to stifle a laugh at that. He was the _Ghost King_ , for gods sake. The spirits of the undead were bound to him. They would never dare hurt him or risk eternal punishment with his father.

"Very good, children." Professor Trelawney said, clapping her hands together. "Class is now dismissed." There was another desperate scraping of chairs as students fought to be the first out of the class. Nico was about to follow when a voice called him back. "Mr. di Angelo, May I speak with you?"

Coming to a stop, Nico turned to face the teacher. "Yes, Professor?"

"I would just like you to know that if you missed anything at your school that we are learning now, come and speak with me-" her voice cut out and her eyes glazed over. When she spoke again, her voice sounded brittle, as though she was walking on wrapping paper with rock shoes. " _The attack of the marked ones shall start the repeat of history and revealed will be the mystery. The heir of shadows shall lead the veterans and they together shall mark the start of the end. To rise or fall by a snake's last breath and turn the tide by the hand of death."_


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone. Big news! I'm not dead! I'm so sorry for falling off this story for almost - wow I just checked, and it was almost seven months. Sorry. I have excuses, though. First, I found it was too difficult to keep up with two stories at once, them being my Hetalia fanfiction Past Memories and Shadowed Child, so I flipped a coin and Shadowed Child lost and had to be put on hold. Then, I hurt myself and was bed-bound for a while. And** _ **then**_ **, I got a job and school has been hectic with the difficulty of the classes I'm taking, so I literally had no time to update and when I was free, I had no motivation. Anyways, those are my excuses. Pick your favourite one. Hopefully, I won't drop off the grid like that again, at least not for that long. I'll try to keep to a steady update schedule of once every few weeks, but no promises. Life is subject to change, and therefore so is my writing schedule. BTW, I'm changing Theodore Nott's name from Teddy to Theo. It just seems too weird to have Nott as a Teddy. I don't think he suits it. Enough excuses and (hopefully not empty) promises. Onto the story! I** _ **still**_ **don't own anything.**

"You've been brooding all day," Theo said, "What's wrong?"

Nico pushed his potatoes around his plate and rested his chin on his hand. "It's nothing."

But Nico knew that wasn't true. The prophecy that Professor Trelawney had made earlier that morning still rang in his ears. He'd hoped that after everything he'd suffered in the Giant War that he'd get to spend the rest of his life as peaceful as a demigod ever could, but apparently the Fates had other plans. He'd Iris messaged Camp soon after Divination, but Chiron said there was nothing he could do about it.

" _The Wizarding World has always been separate from our world," the centaur had said, face grim. "They do not worship the gods anymore, save for Hecate who they call 'Lady Magic'. Even so, Zeus will not allow our interference. I'm sorry, Nico, but you are on your own for this quest."_

"Does di Angelo miss home?" sneered Malfoy, leaning across the table to poke a finger on Nico's forehead. "Or would you rather be sitting with the Gryffindorks?

Pushing Malfoy's hand from his face, Nico narrowed his eyes at the other Slytherin. "I don't know, Malfoy. They seem to have more brains and less inbreeding over there. Neither of which applies to you."

Malfoy's face went pink and he glared at Nico. "At least my family had the sense to not abandon me. Although, I can see why they wouldn't want you." At this, Nico stiffened and Malfoy, sensing a weak spot, continued his verbal jabs across the table, "You know you talk when you sleep? _Bianca, don't leave me_ ," Malfoy mocked. " _Madre, don't go, stay with Father._ What's the matter, di Angelo? Not good enough for your family?"

In an instant, Nico had Malfoy by the collar and pulled him close, "Don't say a word about my family," he hissed.

After a moment, Nico became aware of the murmurings in the Great Hall. It took him a second to realize what the cause was. The temperature in the Hall had dropped at least twenty degrees and even the teachers at the Head Table couldn't raise the temperature no matter what spell they used. The silverware that lined the places of people seated next to him was covered in crackling ice and a light dusting of frost. Malfoy's lips had gone purple and his eyes were wide in fear and incomprehension.

At first, Nico didn't know where the sudden chill had come from, then realized it was emitting from his own body. Like he'd done with Bryce Lawrence several months before, his temper was getting away from him and his abilities were reacting to his emotions. Growling internally, he let go of Malfoy's collar, pushing him back into his seat and forced his power back within him. In an instant, the temperature returned to normal, the candles flickering back to life and the ice melting on the plates and goblets. The students from the other tables seemed to search the Hall for the source of the magic but it was only some of the Slytherins who looked at Nico in horror, so Nico reasoned his secret wasn't completely out.

"Merlin's beard, what the hell was that Nico?" hissed Blaise. "Accidental magic at your age? I don't believe it."

"It's not accidental magic," Nico said, returning to picking at his food. "Family gift. I don't usually lose control of it like that."

"Bloody hell," Theo said, running a hand through his hair in disbelief. "Some family gift. What kind of wizard are you, Nico?"

Nico just shrugged and didn't answer, not oblivious to the gazes of the staff upon him. He knew they would be watching him even more now and silently cursed himself for drawing suspicion on his first day there. With any luck, everything would be forgotten within a week and Nico could continue his task inconspicuously. Of course, Nico had terrible luck so he didn't rely on it much.

Dinner finished without any more incidences and despite the questions from his housemates, Nico ignored them and left the Great Hall quickly.

He pushed past the rush of students leaving the large room and stalked down to the dungeons, ignoring the ghosts who had flocked to his pain, whispering _my Lord, my Lord_ and trying to comfort him despite the fact Nico pushed them away. Poseidon's Underpants, it was only his first day there and he already wanted to go home.

Arriving at the dungeon wall that hid the Slytherin common room, Nico growled out the password and grabbed his books from his dorm before marching back to one on the armchairs in front of the fire and depositing his books on the table before him with a bit more force than was needed. Watching the fire flicker before him, Nico let out a breath that congregated in a small cloud of mist in the cold air, despite the fire that warmed the rest of the room. The air around Nico, especially after losing control like that, always seemed to be several degrees colder than everywhere else. He wondered if it had to do with the fact that he was the Ghost King or if it was just residue from his demigod abilities leaking out into the tangible world. Although he knew it wasn't completely his fault, Nico also knew that he couldn't keep passing his thermokinesis off as 'family magic'. People would become suspicious too quickly if they researched families with that ability and they couldn't find record of Nico's.

Feeling a little bit calmer than he had before, Nico relaxed slightly in the squishy armchair and opened _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_. He probably had enough time to read another chapter before having to start on the already copious amount of homework they had on the first full day of term.

By the time Nico had struggled through chapter two ( _What is a Dark Art and how to spot one_ ), the rest of the Slytherins had arrived from dinner. Sighing, he set down his book and picked his Charms homework out the stack of papers before him. He had even more than the other students because the Headmaster and teachers wanted to make sure he understood the basics before advancing to more complex magic. The moment he saw those papers, he knew he'd be telling the Headmaster sooner rather than later about Hecate's amulet. He did _not_ need extra homework on top of the regular work he had _and_ trying to figure out how to end the war.

Blaise dropped into the chair next to him and Theo and Draco sat on one of the couches. The dark-skinned Italian groaned when he saw Nico's homework and remembered his own, "Aw man, I forgot all about that."

The corners of Theo's mouth twitched, "And we have astronomy tonight."

"Ugh," Blaise groaned, "Do I have to? Why do we even have to take astronomy anyways? They have lunarscopes for this kind of stuff."

Nico raised an eyebrow, "Did you conveniently forget the fact that lunarscopes don't tell you anything about the stars and that you need that knowledge to be able to make certain potions and do certain rituals?"

Blaise just groaned again and pulled his own homework from his bag. Theo and Draco, who was ignoring Nico after the incident in the Great Hall, did the same. The quartet sat in silence for a few moments before Draco threw his quill down in disgust. "How did we end up with so much homework on the _first day_?"

Nico knew what he meant. Already they had a small stack or parchment for Charms alone. The professor, a short man named Flitwick, had spent the entire class going over review and had ended the class with an essay on the uses of different charms due two days later. Nico just hoped the small man could read Ancient Greek or at least had a translation spell because there was no way he'd be able to write an entire essay in English, let alone one due two days later.

Setting his own quill down, Theo shrugged, "I heard that our OWL year will be the hardest of our education, with the exception of our NEWT year."

Quizzically, Nico tilted his head, "What are NEWTs?" His amulet had not planted the information in his head, so he reckoned it was something not every fifth year would know and it would be safe to ask about.

Blaise snorted, "Did you live under a rock before, or something? NEWTs, short for Nasty Exhausting Wizarding Tests, are the final tests you take in seventh year in order to graduate. It determines what level of job you can get when you join the workforce. Do you really not have that at your school?"

"Ah," Nico tried to think of something to say, but considering he wouldn't be there to join the Wizarding community's workforce, it really didn't matter what he got on his OWLs or NEWTs. "My school doesn't have that kind of thing. They basically just throw you out into the world, to sink or swim by your own devices."

Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say, because the other boys were staring at him with varying expressions on their faces - confusion, pity, horror. He refused to meet their eyes, not wanting any of those emotions given to him, not in that way. He was aware that compared to _normal_ kids his age, the ways of the mythological world would be considered inhumane, but that was the way it had been for millennia. If they read any of the classics, they'd understand that it was just the way of life for demigods. They lived more in fifteen years than other would live in fifty, just because that was when demigods hit middle age. It really was a sink or swim world for them. They couldn't get any divine help from their parents and monsters actively sought them out to prove who was stronger. If they didn't learn how to survive quickly, they never would. "It's not that bad," Nico insisted, "It's just the way it's been since our society was founded. You catch on pretty quickly and everything is usually fine from there."

Draco looked like he wanted to say something, perhaps an apology for dinner, but at the last moment, retracted his hand from its spot in the air near Nico's shoulder. Instead, he was unusually quiet for a few moments before he spoke, "We should go. We'll be late for astronomy."

oO0Oo

Nico sleep was fitful at best that night and though he slept longer than usual, he woke the next morning feeling as though he hadn't slept at all. Stifling a groan, he stretched and dragged himself out of bed to the bathrooms. If the other boy's argument the day before was any indication, he should probably get in the shower before Draco hogged all the hot water and the mirrors. The stone walls and tile floor of the bathroom were cold to the touch and Nico shivered when his bare feet made contact with the white tile beneath him. Why didn't the Slytherins cast some sort of warming charm thingy on the floor? They certainly complained about other aspects of the castle that weren't up to their standard, but strangely the ancient, cold dungeons were.

When Nico emerged a few minutes later, wet hair still tousled from his towel, he wasn't at all surprised to see that the other boys still hadn't woken up. The astronomy lesson the night before had lasted well into the evening and most of the students were asleep on their feet by the time the professor had dismissed them. The pale Italian grinned slightly and glanced at the charmed grandfather clock in the corner. It was rigged to go off any second.

 _4…_

 _3…_

 _2…_

 _1…_

 _DONG DONG DONG DONG DONG DONG DONG_.

Nico stifled his laugh with his fist as Draco leapt up in bed, wide-eyed and hand brushing the wand lying on the dark nightstand. There were groans from the other boys as they woke up, though none of them as eventfully as Draco. For a few seconds, the only sounds in the dorm were the grumbling of Blaise trying to find his towel and the snores of Crabbe who had clearly gone back to sleep. Then there was a loud thumping noise and Nico turned to see Goyle with his legs tangled in his blankets still on the bed and his chest flush to the floor. That was too much for Nico and a quiet laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

"Do my ears deceive me or did Nico just laugh?" Draco smirked, stretching his arms behind his head.

Blaise rolled his eyes, "He's human too, Draco, even if he looks like a walking corpse most of the time."

"Shut up," Nico grumbled, but his tone held no harshness in it. He hadn't expected to fall into playful banter with these boys so easily, even if he was still wary around Draco and Crabbe and Goyle only spoke in grunts.

"Leave him alone, you two," Theo said, gathering his robes and making his way to the bathroom. Then he stopped and turned to Nico, "Aren't you going to take a shower?"

Nico froze. There was a reason why he got up earlier than all the others. If someone saw his scars and slightly emaciated body from his time with the Giants, it would bring unwanted questions. He wasn't ashamed of his scars; to a demigod, scars were proof of what you had survived to get where you were and they were a reminder of the mistakes you made along the way so you didn't make them again. It wasn't that he wasn't proud of how far he'd come from the scared little boy with the Mythomagic figurines on a snowy cliff in Maine, it was that if the Wizards saw the patchwork of scar tissue his skin had become, suspicions would be raised and it could jeopardize the mission.

"Nico?"

It was Theo's voice that brought him back to the present and made him realize how rigidly he'd been standing. Nico forced himself to relax and put an easy smile on his face. "Nah, I already did. I'm kind of a morning person, in case you haven't noticed."

Theo shrugged, "Suit yourself," and followed the others into the fifth-year boys' bathroom.

oO0Oo

When the post came as they were halfway through breakfast, Nico scanned the ceiling of the Great Hall for a raven, but Icarus was nowhere to be seen. He pushed his eggs around his plate. ' _Of course he won't be here yet_ ,' Nico silently chastised himself, ' _you only gave him the letter yesterday and it will take at least a day just to get across the ocean and to Will, let alone the return trip.'_

Even with that reasoning, it didn't stop the eggs from tasting like ash in his mouth for the rest of breakfast.

He spent the rest of the time before class glaring at his food, not noticing he was doing it until Blaise cut in laughingly, "What did they ever do to you? Anyways, first period will be starting soon. You have Care of Magical Creatures, right? I don't, but Draco does. He'll show you there."

The blond rolled his eyes but stood up from the bench and straightened the cuffs of his robe. "Come along then, Nico. We'd best be going if we want to get there before the Gryffindorks and the rest of the school and that oaf up at the Head Table, even if he won't give us a detention."

Draco grabbed his bookbag and set off out of the corridor. Nico followed quickly, silently ginning. Apparently, today would be a big step and it was only morning. Not only had he gotten Draco to call him by his first name, and therefore accepted an outsider in his house, but it seemed he would be having multiple classes with students from every house. Maybe this liaison thing would be easier than he initially thought.


	12. Chapter 12

**I apologise for not updating sooner. I have been working on a Christmas surprise for both the HP and HoO fandoms that I'll post either Christmas eve or Christmas day. Anyways, I own nothing.**

Nico should have known better. Nothing was ever that easy. He hadn't expected the blatant disrespect the Slytherins had and the obvious scepticism the rest of the school initiated. He _should_ have expected it, having already been in several classes, but it was getting ridiculous. Over the next few weeks, Nico's initial hope faded as obscenities were thrown around and the rift between the houses grew with each passing comment. His one glimmer of light was that the Gryffindors he'd met at Grimmauld Place at least seemed to be giving him the benefit of the doubt. He soon fell into a routine of sitting with Harry and Ron in divination and Hermione seemed to be warming up to him with each DADA class they had, which was a good thing. He might not know much about this world, but he knew even without the amulet providing answers that those three would stage the tipping points of the war. He could see it in Harry's haunted eyes and the way Ron and Hermione would defend their friend against others who didn't believe the things he'd seen. The three of them would fight to the ends of the Earth for each other and that's what made them such a formidable threat. Nico had an inkling that soon, the scales would lean in their favour and the stage would be set for the start of an active war.

Nico was right. He got the note in Defense, handed to him by Harry under the pretense of passing him a quill. When he unfolded the note, he glanced at the trio who were watching him expectantly.

 _Can we trust you? If you support us, meet us in the Hog's Head bar on the first Hogsmeade visit. This parchment is enchanted with a tongue tying curse so you can't tell the teachers if you don't. Burn the parchment._

His head throbbed and his eyes strained as he struggled to read the English words. It took him what seemed like forever and he was sure he got some weird looks from the Gryffindor trio, but he managed to figure out the code. There were several words that had been mixed up and he tried to put them in what seemed like the most sensible order and prayed he hadn't totally lost the meaning. Nico figured the tongue tying curse was Hermione's idea, and was pretty much given a confirmation when he raised an eyebrow at her and she straightened and held her head higher. He gave an nod, barely a dip of his head and turned back to the board to attempt to decipher Umbridge's loopy handwriting which was _murder_ on the dyslexic brain.

"Mr. di Angelo," Umbridge simpered and strode over to his desk, "What do you have there?"

' _Schist_.'

Nico looked up to see Umbridge leaning over him and attempting to see what was written on the note in his hand. Quickly, he crumpled it up and burned it with Hellfire. "Nothing, ma'am," He said, holding his hands up and letting the ashes fall discreetly to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Harry let out a breath of relief.

"I demand you to tell me what you had!"

"As you can see, Professor, I have nothing," Nico said, re-positioning his quill in his hand and leaning around her to try to see the board, "If you'll excuse me, I can't see the board. Can you move?"

Taunting a teacher was probably a bad idea, but Nico snickered inwardly as she reddened. If she would react like that every time he was in the class, it might make showing up to this stupid classroom worth it.

"I will not be spoken to in that tone!" she shrieked, "Ten points from Slytherin!"

"Spoken to _how_ , ma'am?" Nico said, moving on from the first word to trying to decode what looked like Russian to him, "I'm talking to you normally. Could you _please_ move?"

The vein in her forehead was definitely pulsing now. "Detention, di Angelo!" she shrieked, "For a week! More if you continue to undermine my authority in my own classroom!"

Nico raised an eyebrow and silently dared her to increase it. She trembled with anger but stomped back to the front of the class without saying another word. On the other side of the classroom, he could see Ron's mouth drop open as he blinked several times, as though he was trying to comprehend what had happened in that moment. Nico said nothing and ignored the looks he was getting from his fellow Slytherins.

oO0Oo

The moment he was out the classroom, pink detention slip crushed in his hand, he was pulled aside by the other boys in his dorm. Pushed roughly against the corridor wall by Draco, he could feel the worn stones digging uncomfortably into the still healing wounds on his back. He'd been instructed by Will to take several sips of Nectar a day to help heal from the war, but he'd been taking so much of it lately that he hadn't wanted to risk anything more than the tiniest amount of the godly drink at a time in case he burned up. Will would kill him if he came home as a pile of ashes. But because of the lack of healing potion in his system, the wounds he'd received in captivity and while taking the Athena Parthenos home to stop the Civil War hadn't yet healed fully. Nico arched his back slightly to try to keep the damaged skin on his back from scraping harshly against the stone walls.

"What the Hell, Nico?" Draco growled, "You've only been here three weeks and you've already lost us points _and_ gotten a detention?"

"Let him go," Theo said, but his voice was meek, "He probably didn't mean it."

Nico gave him a look that told everyone watching that he _had_ meant it. Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles threateningly. The son of Hades rolled his eyes. They thought they were _so_ threatening. In reality, they were pathetic, just like the teen for whom they were thugs. "It was only ten points. You'll definitely earn it back in potions with Snape coddling you as he does," He watched as Draco's face reddened. Honestly, even if Snape was his Head of House for the year, Nico couldn't help but despise the man. Something about him rubbed Nico the wrong way. Maybe it was the way he acted so shifty and took pleasure in bullying children, knowing that no one would take the word of a child over his own. Snape reminded Nico of someone and with a start, he realized it would be Octavian. Just like the former _augur,_ Snape enjoying abusing his power over those he deemed beneath him, picking favourites and leaving the others to scramble to compete for the remaining ranks in the class, never once lifting a finger to help them.

"Besides," Nico continued, "My detention doesn't affect you and therefore is none of your business."

Blaise frowned, "Professor Snape won't be happy that you got a detention."

Nico rolled his eyes, "Like I give a damn about what that man wants."

 _Crack!_

Nico's head snapped back against the stone wall and he silently groaned as the tang of copper filled his mouth. He must have bitten his tongue. Draco's chest was heaving and there was a glint in his eyes that hadn't been there before, "Don't talk about my godfather like that!"

Eyes narrowing, Nico gave up the pretense of being held against his will and gripped the collars of the blond, shoving him backwards, "Don't you _ever_ lay a hand on me again, _understand_?"

They stood there at a silent standoff, the other Slytherin's watching with bated breaths as two deadly Serpents went head to head, wondering whose venom was strong enough to win. Nico locked eyes with Draco, refusing to back down. Something almost feral rose inside him and he clamped down on it, not allow it to rear its ugly face. Nico knew he'd have to be careful around this gang. They, especially Draco, seemed to have a way of drawing out the insanity that the children of Hades were so famous for from the place where he'd locked it away, determined not to become like his half-brother that had terrorised the world when he was small.

Eventually, Blaise grabbed Draco's elbow and led him away from Nico. The rest of the Slytherin's followed him. All of them without hesitation, except for Theo, who stopped and looked back at Nico for a moment, struggling internally with something, before casting Nico an apologetic look and hurrying to catch up with his housemates. Nico only sighed, having expected that, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Why couldn't Hecate have chosen someone else - someone who was good with people? Piper should have been the logical choice, but _no_ , they had to send the most socially awkward, unfriendly demigod in Camp.

"You should go to Madame Pomfrey," came a dreamy voice behind him, "She can heal you, you know. If you leave it unchecked, the Blibbering Humdingers might make fun of you. They're always teasing people like that."

Nico whirled around, one hand on the sword concealed at his belt, only to see a girl he vaguely recognized from the train ride over. From the life of him, he couldn't remember her name. Stella? Diana? Selene?

"I'm Luna Lovegood," the girl continued, "I remember you. Nico, wasn't it?"

"Ah, yes," Nico released the hold on his sword and shook her hand, hoping that in doing so he was keeping with proper decorum. The amulet had told him that a lot of the Wizarding families were old and still followed outdated traditions, "Good to see you again," he put on his most friendly face, "And don't worry about my mouth. It's already stopped bleeding."

Luna hummed and moved closer to him, "Have you, by any chance, seen a pair of shoes lying around? The Nargles like to take mine."

Nico blinked. Just what language was this girl speaking? "Nargles?"

Luna began walking down the hallway and Nico fell into step beside her. "Oh, yes. They're horrible pranksters and excellent thieves. I think they keep taking my things because I try to see them. But that's alright, because every time they take something, I have a better chance at following them to their natural habitat. Daddy says if we can get an accurate description of a Nargle castle, it will completely transform magizoology."

"Is that so?" Nico said, unsure of why he was following this girl.

"Yes. Nice sword, by the way. How did you get it past the teachers?"

Nico stopped abruptly and his hand flew back to his belt, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't worry," Luna said dreamily, "I'm not a tattletale. In fact, I wouldn't have even seen it if the Wrackspurts hadn't shown me."

"Uh huh," Nico said slowly, "And Wrackspurts are what, exactly?"

"They fly into your ears and make your brain all fuzzy, but sometimes, if you're lucky, they'll show you hidden things. Here," she dumped a pile of papers into Nico's arms that he fumbled to keep from scattering to the floor, "Daddy's written an article about them in this month's edition of _The_ _Quibbler_."

Upon closer inspection of the papers, Nico saw that they were a bound magazine, bursting with vibrant colours so aggressive, it made his head swim. He flipped through it as they walked, Luna chattering aimlessly beside him about all the different creatures she and her father had been looking for. He was only half paying attention, however. These Wrackspurts, with their ability to make a person's perception of the world become diluted, seemed a lot like the Mist. He wondered if that was all those other creatures were - beings from his world hidden by these Wrackspurt-Mist things, seen by few and believe by less. If that was true and the reason Luna could see all these creatures was because she was Clear Sighted, Nico would have to be careful. Being a son of the Big Three, he was bound to attract monstrous attention sooner or later and while monsters didn't usually go after mortals, he wasn't sure how that rule would apply to wizards, much less Clear Sighted ones.

"Aren't you going to your next class?" Luna asked him and Nico realized with a start that they were outside the Ravenclaw common room.

"Er, yes," Nico said, then corrected himself when he looked at his time table, "Actually, I have a spare. Do you know where the library is?"

oO0Oo

Nico followed Luna's directions down the ancient, draughty corridors. The stones here were old and seemed to whisper to him their secrets, tales of forgotten times and of forgotten wizards who had once graced these same halls. He shoes echoed softly on the timeworn cobbles, loud in the empty space. Nico was almost beginning to wonder if Luna had given him false directions when he turned a corner and halls grew warmer as torches flickered to light on either side of him. He entered the arched library, marvelling at the architecture and wondering if there was some way to send this mental image to Annabeth. He knew she would love to build a library like this for Olympus.

They were on better terms now. Nico was still a bit miffed about the whole _you stole my first crush from me_ , but he loved Will now, not Percy. There was also a hardness in his heart that he would always carry with him for her being the cause of the quest that had killed his sister, but he'd long since accepted that if she hadn't died there, they would never have been together again anyways. For Bianca's sake, he'd try not to hold a grudge. He would never let go of that anger, but he'd accepted it wasn't Annabeth's fault and had tried to put the past behind him for the benefit of both sides.

After a quick inquiry with the Librarian on duty to find out where the Latin books were, she sent him to a corner of the library with a suspicious look on her face. Nico figured it was unusual for kids his age to be asking after a language supposedly long-dead.

There were few students in the library, most of them older ones with thick tomes next to their heads and large rolls of parchment beside them, so Nico had some peace to do research. He browsed the tall aisles of books, pulling some off and leaving others where they were.

 _Magick Moste Evile_

 _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_

 _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_

 _Shadows and Spirits_

 _Self-Defensive Spellwork_

 _A Study Into the Possibility of Reversing the Actual and Metaphysical Effects of Natural Death, with Particular Regard to the Reintegration of Essence and Matter_

 _World Mythology_

Anything to help him try to understand what he was going up against. Nico hefted the stack of books over to a chair next to a roped-off section of the library. The half-healed cuts on his arms screamed in pain and he grunted under the strain they were being forced to carry. Gratefully, he dropped the books to the table in front of the chair and sank into the soft seat. The pages were brittle under his fingers and he brushed them with only the lightest of touches as he read, terrified he would tear the ancient manuscripts.

He wasn't sure of how long he sat there reading, eyes straining against the dim light of the library and the shifting scrawl. It might have been ten minutes, it might have been an hour. Nico didn't care. He had lunch after his spare, anyways. As far as he was concerned, this research was more important than lunch. Undoubtedly, Will would disagree, but he wasn't there right then to find out, so if no one told his boyfriend, Nico would pretend it had never happened.

"Um, Nico?"

Nico closed the book in front of him and gathered up the notes he'd been taking. He looked up to see Theo standing there looking uncomfortable but not hiding his surprise at seeing Nico writing in a different language.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked, not rising from his chair.

"What language was that?" Theo blurted out, gesturing to the notes Nico had filed away into his bag.

"My native one," Nico said shortly.

"But, you said you came from Italy, and I'm pretty sure that's not Italian. I think Blaise would agree with me. Those looked like runes."

Nico sighed. Was there no getting rid of his questioning? "My father was Greek and it was his side of the family that raised me after my mother died when I was very small. I've been writing in Greek for so long, it comes more naturally to me than even Italian does. It's just easier to write."

"Ah," Theo rocked back on his heels and cleared his throat, "Anyways, Professor Snape sent me. He's not happy about your detention. He wants to see you."

"I figured that would happen," Nico got up from the seat and stretched, "It seems Draco will always go back to the hand that feeds him."

"What?"

"Muggle expression. Let's go," Nico said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and making his way out of the library, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, "We shouldn't keep His-Honorable-Majesty-Professor-Sir waiting."


	13. Chapter 13

**Two updates in a week? What is the world coming to? XD**

 **Actually, this is my Christmas present to you guys. Happy holidays! I'm uploading it today because I don't know if I'll have time tomorrow, family visits and all that. I've also uploaded a one-shot for the Harry Potter, Heroes of Olympus, and Hetalia fandoms respectively, so you guys should check it out.**

 **As always, I own nothing.**

To Nico's surprise, Theo didn't take him down to the Slytherin common room. They turned corner after corner until they reached a part of the school Nico had never been in. Theo stopped in front of a gargoyle statue.

"This is where Professor Snape told me to leave you," he said and took a step back, "I have to go."

Without another word, Theo sent Nico a shaky smile and turned down the hallway back the way he'd come. Nico wondered why his friend - if the other Slytherin could be called that - was so shy amongst his peers in his house, and yet put on a mask of confidence before the rest of the school. It bothered him and he made a mental note to figure out what was going on.

Taking a deep breath, Nico eyed the gargoyle.

It didn't move.

He cleared his throat, "Um, I'm here to see Snape?"

It came out more like a question than a statement, but he must have said something right because the statue stepped aside to reveal a winding stone staircase that led up to the floor above. With one last suspicious glance at the gargoyle, Nico ascended through the stone tower.

The stairway led to another corridor, at the end of which was a large oak door. Nico had no idea where he was or what was in the room beyond - if it even was a room. For all Nico knew, it was a portal into some Hellish world. He was in a world of magic touched by his own; he wouldn't put it past the gods to send him to that fate. Quietly, he crept along the narrow hallway, listening for the tell-tale signs of a monster attack. He palmed one of the silver Stygian knives he'd brought with him from the vault under Gringotts. The space around him was much too small for his long Stygian Iron sword to be of any use, but the sharp hunting daggers would be perfect in this situation.

Nico arrived at the door and heard quiet whisperings from inside. He briefly entertained the thought of listening through the keyhole, but was interrupted before he could do anything by the door silently swinging open, revealing a circular room packed with people. They stood amongst the silver whirring contraptions that littered the office - Nico assumed it was an office because it had a desk and everything - and all turned to the door when he walked in. Nico recognized four of them as teachers, the Headmaster, and the other two were the eldest Weasleys who had taken him in during the summer and his time with the Order.

"Ah, Nico, my boy," Dumbledore said warmly, sitting back down in his chair, and gesturing for Nico to take the one in front of his desk, "We were just talking about you. All go things, be assured."

The look on Snape's face told Nico that the man had nothing nice to say to him.

"I'm sure," Nico said dryly, "If that's all, why am I here? I haven't done anything wrong yet."

"You attacked Mr. Malfoy," Snape said with a sneer, "Or did you conveniently forget?"

"Now, now, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, "I'm sure Nico didn't mean it."

"Oh, no," Nico said, crossing his arms, "I absolutely did."

The smile on Dumbledore's face dimmed, "Mr. di Angelo, I'm not sure how it was at your old...school, but here at Hogwarts we do not resort to physical violence to solve our problems."

Nico just rolled his eyes, "If that's what you brought me here to say, save the lecture. I've already had it."

A dumpy professor in the corner cleared her throat to get their attention, "No, Mr. di Angelo. We would just like to talk to you about your academic performances here."

"Ah, yes. Thank you for bringing the matter back to hand, Pomona," Dumbledore said, putting a stack of paper on his desk, "I'm afraid, my boy, that your classroom conduct is slightly...lacking. It says here that you do not take notes during most of the class and when you do, they are barely more than scattered sentences. The assignments you hand in are written in code and no one can read them. There have also been reports of getting into altercations with your classmates and teachers - I see you already have a detention slip - and though not all of them have been your doing, you still rise to the challenge of a fight and that is simply unacceptable. Mr. di Angelo, we do not tolerate fighting in the corridors of Hogwarts - or on any grounds, for that matter. If you have a disagreement, you are to take it up with your Head of House-"

Here, Nico scoffed.

"-or under extreme circumstances, come to me. I do not wish to say this, Mr. di Angelo, especially after not even a semester here, but if you do not change your attitude about your schooling, I'm afraid you might fail the term."

There was silence for a moment and Nico saw out of the corner of his eye Mrs. Weasley put a hand over her mouth. "Professor, surely you can't-"

Nico cut her off, "Headmaster Dumbledore sir, I frankly couldn't care less. I'm here to stop a war, not get an education."

He realized his slip-up the moment he made it.

There was a startled gasp from Sprout - Nico only just remembered her name - and a squeak of surprise from Flitwick.

"Schist," Nico ran a hand through his hair in exasperation, "Forget I said that."

"How can you be here to stop a war?" Flitwick said in a small voice, "You're just a transfer student, no older than a fifth-year."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes went out completely, "What is to be said here cannot leave this room. It is not my story to tell."

He looked expectantly at Nico, who dropped his gaze to the armchair he was sitting him, occupying himself with running his fingers over the fine grain in the wood.

"What I said is true," Nico said at last, "There is no such thing as Hecate's School of Magic. That's the front I chose to cover for my real place of origin," Before he continued, he took a deep breath, "This might sound crazy to you, but bare in mind you live in a world of _magic_. Okay, so basically the gist of it is this: Greek myths are real. Gods have kids with mortals. Those kids go on quests, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you've all heard of Heracles or Achilles?"

They all nodded. Mr. Weasley was looking so excited at the widespread knowledge of Muggle myths.

"Anyways," Nico said, "They're called Demigods or Half-Bloods. I'm a modern day Demigod - the son of Hades."

The wizards in the room said nothing, just looked on, very stunned.

"Hecate's School of Magic is actually Camp Half-Blood, the summer camp where my kind go to train and try not to die. Basically, my father sent me here to help you guys stop the war with minimal casualties. Olympus knows we're already crowded enough down there. That _code_ is actually Ancient Greek. I'm dyslexic because my brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek and Latin. I can't read English or any other language without a _lot_ of difficulties, so all my assignments will be written in Ancient Greek. Don't like it? Too bad. You're magic, you can use a translation spell. Ta da! That's my story."

There was a pause of silence, before the room exploded into noise. Even those who had already known about Nico's secret identity hadn't known there were others like him. A million questions blurred in Nico's mind, their voices grating against his already sensitive ears.

"Quiet!"

Dumbledore's usually calm voice boomed through the room, making everyone go silent. When all was hushed in the office, save for the quiet sounds his various contraptions made, he spoke again. "My apologies, Nico. I was unaware of how they would react. Now," he addressed the rest of the occupants in the room, "If you have questions for Mr. di Angelo, you may ask them one at a time."

Nico leaned back into the leather chair, swiveling around to look up at the wizards before him. Though they might have been standing above him, it was clear to all in that room that it was he who held the power. "I'm willing to answer your questions. However, if I do not wish to grace you with a response, I won't. Some things you might ask me are things I'd rather wish to forget."

There was a moment of hesitation before the tiny man - Flitwick - raised his hand cautiously. Nico realized he might have laid on his aura of power a bit too thick, but to be honest, he was enjoying immensely. "Why would they send you? Why a child and not someone older? Hercules was older than you when he started his labours."

"Actually," Nico said, "I'm one of the oldest Demigods who doesn't live in New Rome - a city only recently discovered by the Demigods of my lineage. Most of us tend to go young." He chuckled darkly, "And _Heracles_ wasn't much older than me when he killed his family...maybe twenty?"

A sorrowful silence settled over the room.

"How young is young?" Mrs. Weasley whispered.

Flashes of memories raced through Nico's mind. Octavian flying through the air in a golden comet, colliding with the fireball containing Leo and Gaea in an explosion of Imperial Gold. The mangled, bloody bodies swaddled in white shrouds in the Plaza Hotel lobby. Percy coming back from the quest to find Artemis and telling him that his sister was dead - he would never forget that feeling of helplessness and utter _aloneness_. Watching over Jason, Piper next to him, sobbing, while the other Demigod lay in a coma, the sword wound courtesy of Michael Varus steaming beneath the bandages.

Nico's heart raced and his stomach lurched unpleasantly.

Huddling in that bronze jar, breathing becoming more shallow with every breath, knowing no one was coming for him. Walking through the fields of Elysium, spotting familiar faces - the faces of those who had died in the wars, people he might have once considered to be friends. Carrying the small body of a Demeter child after the Civil War had ended, the flames of her funeral pyre illuminated the pale face of a child who shouldn't have been fighting in the first place. Hazel and her mother, curled together as the walls of a cave that was never there, on an island that shouldn't exist, collapsed around them.

The room spun and suddenly became too hot and too crowded. Nico felt pressure riding in his throat - a scream desperate for release he was barely holding back.

"I-I don't want to-to-" Nico stammered, moisture collecting in the corners of his eyes, turning his vision blurry.

The adults had the decency to pretend they hadn't noticed he was there as Nico collected himself and rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Nico exhaled shakily and took several deep breaths to even out his breathing. The room wasn't spinning anymore and his stomach had stopped trying to climb out his throat, so he judged it to be alright to bring speaking again. "Sorry. We can continue."

McGonagall opened her mouth and closed it several times, trying to form the question in a way that wouldn't trigger the boy before her. "To rephrase Filius's question, why did they send an inexperienced boy to fight and end a war?

"Bold of you to assume this is my first war," Nico smirked, getting his old attitude back, "This will be my third. I've already seen the battlefield twice before, four times if you count the two times the Camp were attacked."

McGonagall blinked amongst the sharp intakes of breath from the other occupants in the room. "If you're that brave, why aren't you one of my Lions?"

"Oh, don't worry," Nico smirked, twirling a quill from Dumbledore's desk between his fingers, "I'm not evil. The Hat offered me a choice between the Snake's Nest and the Lion's Den. Obviously, I chose Slytherin, but only because it better suited my purposes. After all, what better way to end a war than by knocking out the support pillars. I aim to turn the Death Munchers to the side of the Light."

"Death Munchers?" Mr. Weasley wrinkled his nose.

"Well, they're not Death Eaters yet, are they?" Nico said, hands flying up in exasperation. "I'm going to take Voldemort's would-be-supports away from him, thereby crippling the system of new recruits Tom relied on."

"You dare manipulate my-" Snape's sallow face was rapidly turning the colour of sour Roman wine and a vein in his forehead was pulsing, threatening to break free.

"Yes, I _dare_!" Nico interrupted with a growl, launching from his seat to get within spitting distance of the greasy professor. "You're forgetting three fundamental things, _Snape_. First, you are a Slytherin. Manipulation and deceit are second nature to our kind! It would only be putting the order of the world back to its natural balance. Secondly, I am your elder, and you _will_ treat me with respect! Lastly and most concerning for your future, _I am Prince of the Underworld!_ My father and I _control_ where you end up after death! You're already on thin ice. I suggest that if you don't want to end up in the Fields of Punishment after an untimely _accident_ by one of my father's henchmen, you _learn your place!_ "

Fire flickered in his eyes and something that smelled suspiciously like fear and death stung the air in the room. With a start, Nico realized he'd let his aura escape its confines again. Glancing around at the terrified faces of the adults in the room, Nico scowled and flopped back down in his chair, leashing his power inside him once more. The moment he did that, the temperature in the room went up several degrees back to normal and the fire in the hearth flickered from the previously dying embers to flames. He let out a breath and put on an apologetic face. "Sorry, but I don't think I should answer any more questions right now."

Dumbledore blinked, colour flushing back from the ashen paleness his face had been when Nico's power had been let loose. "Um, yes, my boy." Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Thank you for indulging us. Now, is there any way we can help you?"

Nico leaned his elbows forwards on his knees. The time for answers had come. "What can you tell me about Horcruxes?"

oO0Oo

Nico's mind was reeling. He laid on his bed, listening to the soft snoring of the other boys in his dorm, normally a sound that grated on his ears, but now it comforted him and steadied his breathing. He'd known how horrible Horcruxes were, but he hadn't realized that you needed to literally murder someone in cold blood in order to _carve a piece out of your soul_. What was even more horrifying was the number of Horcruxes Voldemort had made. Dumbledore told the room he knew for certain of two Horcruxes but suspected that Voldemort could have made up to _ten_. By the reactions of the others in his office, this was big and unknown news.

Now, at least, Nico knew why he couldn't find any books of that particular Dark Art in the library; they were all hidden safely away in Dumbledore's office.

Nico ran a hand through his hair, pushing the wild bangs off his face. "Schist," he whispered.

How in Hera's name was he going to be able to do this alone? Not only would it be near impossible to search for the Horcruxes without Umbridge or the other teachers catching him, but he also had no idea where to start looking. Voldemort could have hidden them _anywhere_. It didn't help that Nico had no idea what it was they _were_. For all he knew, the pillow below his head was one.

The darkness of the dorm room pushed against the edges of his bed, threatening to swallow him whole. Why did his father have to send _him_ and not anyone else? Nico knew it was selfish - by the gods, did he know - but he wished with every fabric of his being that someone else had been chosen for this quest. Hadn't he been through enough already?

Now he had no idea where to start looking for Horcruxes, he might have just lost his only allies in the Slytherin house, and the gods weren't answering his prayers. He was completely alone for this mission.

It looked like the war had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi everyone. I know this is kind of late, but it's exam time and I have been studying my butt off trying to pass my courses. On that note, this chapter is shorter for those same reasons. I also probably won't update until the next semester, so around** **February** **, and I am really sorry, but I am writing this in Physcology class right** **now** **instead of working on my summative, so I hope that shows how pressed for time I am. Thanks for understanding! I own nothing.**

The torches flickering dimly in their iron brackets cast ominous shadows along the walls of the hall, like dark tongues lapping silently at the cracks in the mortar and stones. Nico's sneakers padded the sound of his feet against the cobbled floors so the corridor was virtually silent, no indication that anyone was there.

Nico liked the silence. It made it harder for monsters to sneak up on him.

His destination that night was at the end of the hall - a single doorway, the only one to have light leaking into the corridor from the adjacent room. Nico sighed and adjusted his bag on his shoulder. In all honesty, he really didn't want to be there. It was a waste of his time - time that would have been better spent in the library.

Stopping at the door and looking apprehensively at the brass knob, Nico sighed one more time and opened the door.

Oh gods, kill him now.

The room was pink. _Bright_ pink. Nico was pretty sure Piper would have a heart attack if she saw it. Actually, it looked remarkably like the same shade of pink as the Aphrodite cabin at camp. Nico briefly wondered if they had the same supplier before he shook his head. Now was not the time to let his ADHD brain wander. Nico stood in the doorway, gobsmacked as he surveyed the rest of the room. There were not many things that could shock him speechless, but the _sheer number_ of cat photos this lady had was _astounding_.

' _That's it,'_ Nico thought, ' _She's definitely not human.'_

No _sane_ person would cover their office walls with pictures of moving cats. Then again, Nico wasn't entirely sure is Umbridge _was_ sane.

"Heh hem," The lady in question cough to get his attention, which was entirely unnecessary since Nico was already looking at her. Mostly in disgust, true, but he was still _looking_.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. di Angelo," Umbridge simpered and looked at the delicate gold watch on her ugly wrist, "You are three minutes, forty-seven seconds late."

"Yeah, sorry," Nico snapped his eyes away from her pink outfit (Holy Hephaestus, even her outfit was pink. Maybe Aphrodite would consider it a violation of fashion and turn Umbridge into some kind of furry creature) and cleared his throat. "I didn't really want to come, so yeah…"

Seated in front of Umbridge's desk, Harry turned a laugh into a cough and stifled it with his sleeve.

Umbridge's cheeks tinted pink - great, _more_ pink - and she gestured to the seat beside Harry. When Nico was seated, desperately trying to ignore the fluffy white cat in a painting just behind her chair that was eyeing him like he was going to be the feline's next meal, Umbridge picked up a wooden baton and smacked the desk in front of the boys. Harry jumped backwards in his seat, but Nico just narrowed his eyes, wondering what her game was - what kind of end goal was she trying to accomplish. Surely even _she_ would lose her job if she hit them with the stick, so maybe it was just an intimidation tactic.

"Tonight, you will be writing lines," Umbridge said in her simpery voice. Gods, was her voice _naturally_ that high-pitched? She could probably make a dog deaf. Maybe that was why she stuck to cats.

Nico had to school his face back into neutral displeasure. Inside, his gut was crackling with laughter and his cheeks twitched, threatening to let a smile break free.

"Ah ah ah!" she continued when Harry reached into his bag to get a quill, "You will be using a special writing utensil of my own."

She plunked two black feathered quills from a drawer and set one down before each of them. Nico immediately balked at the _darkness_ radiating off the thing on the desk in front of him. Those quills had spilt a lot of blood in the time since they were plucked. Nico wouldn't be half-surprised if the desk burst into flames underneath them.

But nothing happened. They just sat there like ordinary, useless, _in-efficient_ non-pens. Gods, what Nico would do to feel the familiar plastic grip of a pen in his hand. He didn't even know that one could miss pens before he went to Hogwarts.

"Mr. Potter," Umbridge sat down in the antique _pink_ chair behind her desk and steepled her fingers together on the desk. "You will write _I must not tell lies_. Mr. di Angelo, you will be writing _I will obey my superiors._ "

Nico rolled his eyes. ' _Story of my life.'_

"Um, Professor," Harry said, nervously twirling the quill in his fingers, "You haven't given us any ink."

The smile of Umbridge's face would to most look sympathetic. To Nico, it was sinister. "You won't need any."

oO0Oo

The itching in his hand started off slowly - manageable. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico could see Harry massaging the back of his left hand with his knuckles before continuing to write. The back of Nico's own left hand was beginning to flush an irritated rose colour, contrasting horribly with his pale olive skin.

Nico paused in his writing to glare up at Umbridge through his bangs.

"Keep writing, Mr. di Angelo. There is still three hours, eighteen minutes left in your detention."

Gritting his teeth, Nico returned to forming the ancient symbols in a suspiciously-red ink that smelled of iron and copper. If Nico didn't know any better, he would have said it was blood. At least this detention wasn't made even more unbearable by his Dyslexia. It seemed that Dumbledore had talked to the staff about his _problem_ , or at least had given them some sort of cover story because Umbridge didn't even bat an eye at the Ancient Greek words on Nico's paper.

"What the-?"

Nico looked over at Harry to see droplets of crimson beading along the back of his left hand. Quickly, Nico glanced down at his own hand and saw that there was indeed several strange cuts breaking the pale skin.

"There is still three hours, five minutes left in your detention, boys. Do try to keep silent until then."

Nico didn't even have to look at Umbridge to know she was smiling and simpering at them, mock sympathy and kindness on her toad-like face.

' _Sorry Snape, but it just looks like Umbridge has taken first place on my list of people to kill when I get out of here.'_

oO0Oo

The hourglass on Umbridge's desk had been turned four times by the time their detention as finished. In those hours, Umbridge had drank two teapots of tea, filed her nails three times, and had repainted them a different horrify shade of fuschia. She was looking over papers from the Ministry of Magic - judging by the seal on the discarded ones - and sipping delicately on a flower-encrusted teacup when the ten-minute-to-curfew bell rang through the castle.

Umbridge set the cup dainty down on a matching saucer and folded up the papers. "Well boys, I hope you've learned your lesson. Let's hope I don't see you back here anytime soon."

She smiled patronisingly at them once more and ushered them out the door, closing it forcefully behind them.

Nico and Harry were left alone in the hallway in silence. The two of them looked at eachother, before Harry hissed in pain.

"Here, let me see," Nico demanded and grabbed hold of Harry's hand. Through the blood, he could see thin gashes where the skin had been crudely split open to spell _I must not tell lies_ in Harry's shaky handwriting. "You need to go to the Hospital Wing."

Harry yanked his hand back. "I'm fine. What about you? You had more letters to write than me."

Nico clenched his hand and cradled it against his chest, ignoring the stickiness of the blood as it spread to his shirt. "It's nothing. It's not like this isn't the first time I've hurt myself. Anyways, if you won't go to a Healer, then - give me that -" Nico grabbed Harry's hand once more despite the other boy's protests and used his other hand to tear a pocket off the inside of his robe where no one, not even Professor Snape with those beady eyes black like coal, would see it.

Nico wrapped the black cloth around Harry's hand, trying it off somewhat clumsily, but hey, he only had one hand to do it with. Then he stepped back to admire his work. "There, that should do for now. Um, keep pressure on it and clean it when you get back to your dorm to make sure it doesn't get infected. If it looks really deep, you might need stitches, so you _have_ to go to the Hospital Wing. Erm, Hermione might know some healing spells, but stay away from those unless it's really needed, because you might do more harm than good."

Nico knew he was rambling when Harry blinked and looked at him with curiosity and confusion in his eyes.

"Blimey, Nico," he said, pressing a thumb to the cloth around his hand, "How do you know all that stuff?"

' _Common sense?'_ "It was mandatory at my old school to take a course on healing and my, ah, significant other is our Year's resident Healer."

"Oh," Harry said, "You don't have one Healer for the whole school?"

' _Will kind of is that.'_ Nico thought, but instead said, "Things are different there."

Just thinking about Will made a pang of loneliness shoot through his chest. Damn his boyfriend for making him go soft!

"So, um," Harry rocked back on his heels awkwardly, "Your _significant other_ , are they coming for Christmas? Because I'm sure Mrs. Weasley would be fine with having another person to feed. She loves fussing over us, you know, and I'm sure the others at the _place_ wouldn't mind. They are all good people and - great, I'm the one rambling now."

Nico cracked a small smile. "If they say it's okay, then I'll invite him."

If Harry noticed his slip-up, he either already knew or didn't care.

"The, um," Harry cleared his throat, "The curfew bell is going to ring soon. I'd better get going. I'll see you at Hogsmeade tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah."


	15. Chapter 15

By the way, I'm from Canada, so I have no idea how fall and winter and spring are in the British Isles and forgive me if I don't get the weather or climate quite right. I'm going off experience, but I've never been to Scotland and my experience of winter is -30 degrees weather and in fall we're lucky if it's +15, but I'm pretty sure it's not like that where Hogwarts is.

The air was frosty and carried the distant promise of snow to the Scottish Highlands. It was only the first weekend of October and yet the weather was cold enough that Nico buried his face further into his green and silver scarf. Other students walked around him, window shopping or hurrying to a nearby pub for something warm to drink. Their breaths mingled in a low cloud of frosty air as they roamed about, fogging over windows when they peered into the shops and covering the glasses of those wearing them who stepped into the warmth of the pubs.

Nico himself was standing outside the apothecary, debating whether or not he should go in. On one hand, from what he understood, apothecary's were where healers got their stuff from and it might give him an idea of what to get Will for their first Christmas as a couple (yes, he was that person - sappy and sentimental underneath it all), but on the other hand, it might involve talking to people, and Nico was just about burned out from the previous week. His confession to the Heads of Houses and their promises to help him in his quest whenever they could had lifted a weight off his shoulders he hadn't even known was there. At last, he had someone who knew more about the Wizarding World and the previous war with Voldemort on his side, knowing the truth. However, it had also been draining - their questions delved deep into a past he'd rather have left largely forgotten and now his nightmares about Bianca and the Titan War had started up again, so he had to deal with those on top of the ones that were the result of the summer just past.

He wasn't getting as much sleep as he wanted and he knew the purpling circles under his eyes were becoming obvious because even Draco had expressed his concern to Nico - and he was still kind of cold to him because of the whole detention experience.

Finally, his need to be somewhere warm won over and Nico pushed the door to the apothecary open, the bell ringing to signal his arrival. Nico nodded to the man behind the counter and went through the dusty shop, looking for something that might be of interest to Will. Strangely the apothecary, which sounds like a place that should be kept clean and pristine, was covered in dust, cobwebs, and grime. Nico peered into one of the bins and when black beetle eyes greeted him, he quickly walked out of the store, decided that nothing in there would be what Will would want. He would shadow travel to Diagon Alley when the time came closer to the holidays where the apothecary shop was decidedly much cleaner. A quick in and out and no one would even notice he was missing.

Nico's cheeks were red with cold by the time his watch told him he should head to the predetermined meeting place. He quickly traversed the streets to where Harry had said to meet him - a pub in the middle of the squalor called The Hog's Head. He quickly scanned the dark interior of the building and selected a table in the corner where he could watch people file in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the first to come in. The Boy-Who-Lived waved upon entering, a nervous smile on his face, and Nico returned the gesture with a soft tilt of his head.

Over the next few minutes, the pub went from empty to being filled with students of all ages. Nico noted that most of them were Gryffindors with a surprising smattering of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. He was the only Slytherin. Despite the number of teens in the pub, it was quite silent, the students unwilling to speak and draw attention to themselves, and Nico didn't like the casual nonchalance the pub-keeper tried to display. Nico was willing to bet anything the man was listening in on them.

Up at the front of the group, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat and Nico turned his attention to where the Golden Trio stood at the head of the group. Hermione was bouncing on the balls of her feet, filled with nervous energy, but her voice was steady when she spoke to the group.

"Um, hi, so we brought you all here because we need to learn to defend ourselves and be taught - really taught, not just study out of books - by someone with experience. Not a Ministry worker, but someone who has fought the Dark Arts first hand and won." she gestured to Harry and he took her place.

"So, as Hermione said, I'll be instructing you in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I assume we all agree that we need a competent teacher," Harry scratched the back of his neck, "And I've been told that there is no better teacher than myself - which is absurd, by the way, but I guess you guys will have to make do with me as being the best thing we have right now."

A Hufflepuff in the back snorted, "And why is that, Potter? Why on earth would we need these skills?"

Harry took a deep breath, "I - I want us all to be trained properly in Defense because... because Voldemort is back."

The reaction was immediate and predictable. A Ravenclaw girl shrieked and slopped Butterbeer down her front; a Ravenclaw boy gave what seemed to be a nervous or involuntary twitch; a Gryffindor girl in his year shuddered, and Neville Longbottom yelped but quickly hid it with the fakest-sounding cough Nico had ever heard.

"So, anyway," Ron said, hiding his twitch at the Dark Lord's name, "That's the plan. If you care to join us-"

He was cut off by the rather buff Hufflepuff from before.

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back? All we've got is the word of an old man who's probably going senile and that's based off lies that you fed him," The boy looked angry now, more so than before, "No one knows what happened that night in the graveyard. For all we know, you murdered Cedric Diggory to win the Tournament. We've got the right to know the truth!"

The moment Harry stood up, Nico knew it was going to get good. He smiled into his tankard of Butterbeer and crossed his legs, intent on enjoying the show.

Harry's eyes darkened and they became haunted, as though he wasn't there. Nico strongly suspected he was reliving the night in the graveyard - whatever that entailed. The Gryffindor's face was pale and his jaw tensed before he focused those haunted eyes on the group before him.

"Listen," Harry said, voice rising in volume and his words becoming choppy, "If you've all come to know exactly what it looks like when Voldemort-" cue the flinches and gasps, "-murders someone, I can't help you." He glared at the Hufflepuff boy who shrank back slightly under the force of Harry's gaze, "I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out."

There was some shuffling of feet, but no one moved from where they sat. Even Nico, who was sitting away from the crowd and therefore not receiving the full brunt of the Golden Trio's gaze, would not have wanted to leave with Hermione and Ron standing on either side of Harry protectively like they'd seen the worst, conquered their foes, and would do the same to anyone who said otherwise. They were fiercely protective of their brother and for the first time, Nico really saw what set Gryffindors apart from Slytherins. In a way, they were very much similar. They both had a certain disregard for the rules; both houses were fiercely protective over those who had earned their loyalty; they cared about their reputation and the image they projected. Where they differed, however, was the level of loyalty.

A Slytherin would protect you and stay with you through anything - so long as it did not hinder their own aspirations and ambitions. A Gryffindor, however, would follow you into the Underworld and come out, friendship none the weaker. Ron and Hermione had done just that for Harry. When he'd been accused of being the Heir of Slytherin, they'd stayed with him and had tried to dispel any rumours and theories about the young second-year. They'd stayed with him during his adventure with the Philosopher's stone, leaving only when they could go no further. Nico knew that things between Ron and Harry had been rocky for several months last year, but it seemed that all was well now and the three of them were inseparable.

Nico sometimes wondered if anyone would go through all that for him, before remembering they had. Reyna had been prepared to go down fighting if it meant that Nico and Coach Hedge would get to Camp with the Athena Parthenos safely. He was the reason Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. If they hadn't have gone to rescue him, perhaps Percy could have made it to Annabeth quicker and have rescued her before she's been dragged down by Arachne into the depths of Tartarus. Jason had kept his secret - the secret he'd been most ashamed of - and hadn't brought it up, respecting Nico's decision to not tell anyone. That is, until Nico and Will had finally kissed and Jason had congratulated Nico before turning to Will and proceeding to threaten him with a bunch of horrible things that would happen to him if he broke Nico's heart.

They still laughed about it months later.

"-true that you can produce a Patronus?"

Nico realized that he'd tuned out the conversation in front of him and focused his attention back on the people speaking.

"Yeah," Harry said, a bit defensively.

"A corporeal Patronus?" the same girl asked.

"Uh, yeah. It's a stag. Professor Lupin taught me it in third year to help with the Dementors at the Quidditch matches." Harry shifted slightly on his feet.

"And did you really kill a Basilisk with the sword in Dumbledore's office?" A Ravenclaw boy asked, "One of the portraits told me."

"Er - yeah, I did, yeah," said Harry, flushing slightly.

"And in our first year," Neville turned and told the group at large, an excited grin on his face, "He saved that Philological Stone-"

"Philosopher's," Hermione sighed.

"Yeah, that - from You-Know-Who," finished Neville.

One of the Hufflepuff girl's eyes were as round as galleons as people began chiming in with various things Harry had done, making the aforementioned boy turn a lovely shade of fuschia.

"I - I didn't do all those things alone," Harry protested, "I had a lot of help and-"

"Don't sell yourself short, mate," Ron said, knocking Harry playfully in the side with his elbow, "You did most of that stuff alone."

"Yeah, but-"

"Moving on," Hermione interrupted Harry before he could begin his protests once more, "We need to focus on finding a day that will work for all of us. I was thinking that perhaps we meet once or twice a week for maybe an hour to allow for time for your studies. The Ministry does not wish for us to learn DADA, perhaps afraid that we will use what we know to form an army and lead a coup against them, but I say we have the right to survive and these meeting will show us how to defend ourselves against whatever people might through at us - Ministry or Death Eaters."

Several people began speaking at once, yelling over top of one another. It took almost half-an-hour to get everything settled and decide that Harry, Ron, and Hermione would sent word when they'd chosen a meeting place. Before everyone left, Hermione conjured up a piece of parchment on which she instructed everyone to sign their names.

Nico got up from his place in the shadows, ignoring the sharp intakes of breath and low murmurings that came when he approached the sign-up sheet. He'd just signed his name (Νίκος Ντι Άντζελο printed in neat Ancient Greek) when the Hufflepuff boy from before grabbed him roughly by the collar.

"Why are you letting a slimy Snake join? He's going to tell Umbridge and then we're really going to be in for it," he was nearing hysteria as his voice rose in pitch, "My parents would kill me if I lost my chance at becoming Head Boy because of some silly club!"

"If it's just a silly club, then why did you join?" Nico removed the boy's hand from his cloak and pushed him away, causing the boy to stumble a few steps before regaining his footing, "Besides, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione know, my affiliations have always been to the side against Voldemort. It matters not what you think of me. I have survived far worse with far less support, but nevertheless, I will be working next to you in this Defense Association, for better or worse, so you should get used to it."

Before the Hufflepuff could respond, a Ravenclaw girl who Nico had noticed Harry eyeing stepped in, "Defense Association. I like that. We could even shorten it to the DA?"

People whispered amongst themselves and Ginny nodded, "I like the whole 'DA' part, only let's call ourselves 'Dumbledore's Army' instead, 'cause that's the Ministry's worse fear, yeah?"

For the first time since the meeting started, Harry smiled, "DA it is, then. Welcome to Dumbledore's Army."


	16. Chapter 16

**I am so sorry for not updating sooner, but I'll try to keep on a regualr schedual from now on. As always, I own nothing.**

The world blurred around Nico and for just a moment, his eyes slipped shut and his chin slid off his hand, before the sudden sensation of tipping to the side shocked him back awake. Good gods, he was _exhausted_. He'd spent most of the night previous in the library, hiding in the shadows long past curfew, researching everything he could about Voldemort and his Horcruxes with the books Dumbledore had lent him. By the time he'd finally fallen into bed three chapters into the _English_ books - he'd forgotten to ask for a translation spell -, the sun was already beginning to creep up over the Black Lake, lighting the dark autumn sky with brilliant indigos, passionate reds, fiery oranges, and golden yellows. Of course, Nico had fallen asleep only to be woken up by the grandfather clock chiming loudly in his ears.

Of _course_. Typical demigod luck. He was saving the world and destroying himself in the process. It seemed to happen every time he went on a quest - so much so that it was starting to feel like a broken record, repeating the same scenarios over and over again. Nico didn't say that out loud, however. As close to the dead as he was, he had no desire to join them just yet and speaking those thoughts out loud would only entice the gods to torment him further, seeing how much the young demigod could take until he broke.

Ugh, thank the gods it was lunchtime. As soon as the day was over, he'd skip dinner - damn Snape's rules - and would go straight to bed and sleep until Potions the next day.

"Hey, Nico," Blaise nudged him in the side, an unreadable expression on his face, "You okay? You looked like you about to collapse right then."

Nico scowled into his fish and chips. Normally, he'd be inwardly cackling at the mental image of Percy when he saw him eating the aquatic animal - the whole ' _fish are friends, not food'_ incident was still famous at Camp - but right now, he was too tired to do anything more than manage a weak shrug.

"I'm fine," he gritted his teeth at the sudden dizziness that swamped him when he opened his mouth, "It's nothing."

Blaise glanced to the side, "You know it's really only Draco and Parkinson that are really mad at you for losing those points, right? Most of the other Snakes don't know what happened and are just following their lead. But not me or Theo - we're on your side all the way."

The quiet boy across the table from Nico shyly gave a half smile, then ducked his head and looked around to make sure Draco hadn't heard.

"Well," Blaise made an over-exaggerated show of stretching before getting up from his seat, "We'd best be getting on to Potions. Snape said we're doing something special today - and it didn't seem like he was happy about it."

Nico shrugged at the unasked question. He didn't know what had that man's cloak in a knot - again. He joined the rest of the fifth year Slytherins at the entrance of the Great Hall and, fighting a yawn all the way, followed them into the depths of the dungeons.

oO0Oo

When he got there, the Gryffindors were already standing outside the entrance to the Potions classroom. Everyone was stamping their feet to force warmth into them and tucking their hands under their thick cloaks. Nico was the only one who didn't seem all too bothered by the cold. Even the Slytherins with their expensive, good quality fur cloaks were shivering as the dungeon air seemed to sap the strength right from them.

Just as Nico was about to slide down the wall and tuck himself into the cloak for a quick nap, there was a sound like a gunshot. Nico jumped up, hand reaching for his sword, before realizing that it had just been Snape being as dramatic as usual and slamming the door against the stone on his way into the class.

At least Nico was now awake and running with adrenaline. With luck, it would be enough to get him through this class. Then he could skip History of Magic and go to the library and get in more studying.

He found his seat and set his head down in his hands.

' _Maybe a nap would be a better idea.'_

"I see all you incompetent fools managed to find your way to the classroom. No, Mr. Finnegan, we will not be casting a warming charm," Snape said in anticipation of the question that was sure to be asked, "It's bad for the - MR. DI ANGELO!"

Nico's head snapped up and he squinted blearily at the greasy man standing at the front of the room. Snape scowled at him, but said nothing else, leaving everyone looking between the exchange student and their professor in both confusion and shock.

"Since our esteemed Headmaster believes that there is not enough inter-house unity," his face twisted in a sour expression, "He has requested to the staff that we begin pairing up people of different houses together."

There were some fearful glances exchanged between students and Snape rolled his eyes.

"Cease those foolish forms of communication. There will be two Gryffindors and two Slytherins in a group today due to the difficulty of the potion we will be making," Snape turned around and strode to the blackboard with billowing robes falling behind him. He waved his wand and chalk began writing instruction down on the board in large loopy handwriting.

"Today we will be making the Draught of Peace. Dumbledore requested that you were able to choose your own groups as a compromise, but be warned," he said as several students began automatically gravitating towards their best friends, "Choose your partners wisely. At the end of the lesson, I will choose one of your group to drink the draught you made. Despite its name, the Draught of Peace can be potentially deadly if brewed incorrectly. You _will_ be graded on the effects of the draught on your classmate."

Nico clenched his teeth at the man's sheer disregard for the lives of his students. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Neville go the pale colour of cold milk and begin shaking in his seat. Apparently, the Golden Trio had noticed it too, because before Nico could make a move to partner with Neville, Hermione was already sitting down beside the plump boy, putting a reassuring hand over his.

"Hey, Nico."

Nico glanced over to see Harry and Ron standing sheepishly at the edge of his desk.

"We, um," Ron went as purple as a beet, "Well, you're a Slytherin and pretty good at Potions, so it'll be harder for Snape to take points off us and-"

"What he's saying," Harry said, cutting his friend off, "Is that we were wondering if we could be your Gryffindor partners?"

Blinking back his surprise, Nico nodded, "Uh, sure. But just so you know, Snape doesn't like me very much, so that's one benefit you're not getting."

Ron let out a chuckle at the joke, thoough Nico had only been half kidding.

"Well," Harry said, looking around at the remaining students, "We still need another Slytherin stu-"

Before he could finish, Nico broke from the group and walked over to Theo and dragged him back to their desk, "Found one."

The two Gryffindors blinked, then shrugged and stuck their hands out for Theo to shake. He did, albeit a bit reluctant, and opened his mouth to introduce himself.

"Theodore Nott. Hope you two are good at brewing. I really don't fancy being poisoned now."

Harry smirked, "Right back at ya, Nott."

Nico was a bit surprised at how easily Theo's mask slid up in public, but a quick movement from the corner of his eyes gave him a lot more to worry about, "Oh man, Hermione's in for it."

Though he looked a bit surprised that Nico and Hermione were on a first name basis, he let his gaze wander over to where Nico was looking and let out a snort. "Crabbe, Goyle, _and_ Longbottom? Yeah, they're going to end up with poison, that's for sure."

Ron glared at Theo, "Don't underestimate her! They'll be fine. Hermione's bloody _brilliant_!"

Before a fight could start, Harry stepped in with orders, "Ron, can you get the cauldron? Nott, you and Nico can grab the ingredients. I'll grab the scales and such."

With another raised eyebrow and a pointed look at Nico, he and Theo made their way over to the storage cupboards.

oO0Oo

"-you're kidding!? Pictures in the Muggle world don't _move_?"

Harry grinned, stirring the cauldron with one hand, the other gesturing at the only Muggle photo he had - one he'd gotten taken as a small child at school and had kept hidden, bringing to class only because Ron wanted to see it and there wasn't time before hand. "Nah, Muggles have something called _cinema_ that shows a series of moving images set together to tell a story, but no, individual pictures don't move."

"Huh," Theo said, adding the last batch of powdered porcupine quills to the cauldron. He was feigning disinterest, but it was clear to Nico that he was paying rapt attention.

"Yeah," Harry said, setting the spoon down and turning down the heat to allow the potion to continue simmering, "I was really surprised when I found out things _moved_ in the Wizarding world."

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over their group, and Nico looked up to see Snape glaring fiercely at their potion. Nico felt a smug satisfaction that Snape had done his best with the situation he was in to set them up to fail, but instead, they worked together surprisingly well and their potion was emitting the proper silver vapour.

To their other side, Hermione's team was going much slower, but with much more success than anyone would have thought. Goyle was grinding Unicorn horns into powder with a mortar and pestle and Crabbe had his tongue sticking out between his teeth as he did his best to carefully measure the exact amount of moonstone powder using a set of scales. Hermione was leaning over Neville, their hands on the spoon together as Hermione showed him how to properly stir the potion so it wouldn't explode. Hermione looked a bit stressed, but so far, the potion was the right shade of purple for the right step, so they were doing better than everyone guessed they would have.

Ten minutes later, everyone's potions were done and Snape stalked his way along the aisles, eyeing each potion and group with a critical eye.

"Passable, I suppose," he grumbled at last, "But the real test has yet to come. Longbottom!" Snape barked suddenly and Neville went ashen grey.

"You will try the potion."

"Oh my god," one of the Gryffindor girls gasped softly.

With shaking hands, Neville dipped a ladle into his potion and sloppily field a vial with it. Carefully, Neville brought the vial up to his lips and exchanged and glance with Hermione. When she smiled encouragingly, he downed the potion.

The moment it passed his lips, a blissful smile overcame him. All the tension drained from his shoulders and his face flushed back to its normal colour.

"It's fine," he said it a light voice, like all his worries had suddenly disappeared.

Snape scowled and the Gryffindors cheered.

Most of the rest of the class went without incident. The group with Parkinson, Bulstrode, Patil, and Brown did pretty well. She didn't get the same blissful look Neville did, but Patil did seem to relax and she didn't wind up in a coma on the group, so that was a good thing, Nico supposed. Draco's group, consisting of him, Blaise, Finnegan, and Thomas, had a minor incident where Finnegan fell to the group and began snoring. Luckily, however, the effects were reversible and he was soon standing back on his feet, looking mortified but relieved all the same.

Then they came to Nico's group. All class had their eyes on them, watching with bated breath as Snape peered inside their potion and sneered.

"Di Angelo," he said suddenly, snapping Nico out of his daze. Damn Snape - he'd _almost_ been asleep. " _You_ will drink the draught."

The jaws of the Gryffindors - and several Slytherins - dropped. Nico was the first Slytherin student to have been picked all afternoon _and_ he'd been picked over Harry and Ron - two of Snape's favourite students to torment.

Nico, however, wasn't fazed. Though his thoughts were muddled by sleep-deprivation and his eyes threatened to drop shut every time he blinked, Nico held his ground. There was something about facing Death and death hundreds of times and living to tell the tale that made downing a potentially harmful potion just seem like drinking a glass of apple juice. Hell, he'd already drunk a glass of poison just a few months previous - and that was one that had been _designed_ to get you closer to the world of the dead. He'd be _fine_.

Holding his professor's gaze steady the entire time, Nico didn't let his hands hesitate as he filled a vial with the potion. He could hear Ron's heavy breathing echoing in his ears, and the deafening silence in the room made him want to go insane. He could _feel_ the nervous energy titering around the room as people shifted where they stood to get a closer look at the sole Slytherin to drink that day.

Nico held the vial out in a toast to his professor, then turned and toasted his group mates. Ron was biting his lip and Theo was twiddling his thumbs. Surprisingly, Harry was quite calm, but given everything that had happened and everything that would, Nico supposed it was good that he kept a level head.

Nico tipped the vial back and down it in one go.

 _Blissful calm - tiredness gone and replaced only by peace._

 _A thought niggling at the back of his head._

 _Nico swam towards it through the peaceful fog._

 _Something that had been bothering him for a while. A thought he hadn't been able to access while tired._

 _Yet it had always been there, festering in the back of his mind._

 _He touched the thought._

 _"It seems that when Tom Riddle made his Horcruxes - yes, I do know about them - he became essentially immortal"_

 _ **Yes, I do know about them.**_

 _The goblins knew where they were._

 _The secret was at Gringotts._

Nico bolted upright where he'd fallen against the desk in shock.

"GRINGOTTS!"


	17. Chapter 17

**First off, I would like to say that I am so** ** _so_** **sorry for not updating in over a month. School's been hectic, work's been eating up my time, and when I did have the opportunity to write, I had neither the motivation or the ideas. So yeah, because of writer's block, this chapter is mostly a filler chapter but the next one will be plot, I promise. I'll do my best to update whenever I can, but my band is going to play in the Atlantic Music Fest in Halifax in three weeks so my teacher has been pushing for extra rehearsals and more individual practice. I will tell you this, however.** ** _This story will never be abandoned_** **; even if it takes me fifteen years to complete it, I swear to the gods I will.**

"-holy shit-"

"-happening?"

"-don't know-"

"-the hell?"

"-di Angelo, calm down!"

The world spun, stuttering in and out of focus. Sleep pulled at his eyelids as Nico stumbled towards the door, using the desks to guide his way across the classroom. He knew where the next Horcrux was; he just had to shadow travel out of the castle.

The adrenaline rush that had been keeping him upright throughout the day was rapidly fading thanks to the effects of the Draught of Peace. His knees threatened to buckle underneath him and he roughly grasped the doorframe to steady himself. The room was chilling cold and yet suffocatingly warm simultaneously, giving a layered feeling to the air in the atmosphere. The shadows grew larger, winking out the candles as they responded to the instinctive call of their master.

' _Not here,'_ Nico thought desperately, trying to push the darkness away, ' _They can't see.'_

Hands grabbed at him, catching on his cloak, the hem of his robe, trying to stop him. Nico batted them away and whirled around, instantly regretting his mistake.

That movement was too much and Nico had just enough time to watch Theo's eyes widen as he realized what was going to happen a second before it did. The other Slytherin lunged for him as Nico pitched forwards and everything went dark.

oO0Oo

 _Nico dreamed of the last day of summer at Camp Half-Blood. Technically, there was still half a week before the school year started, but they had made the unanimous decision to end the summer term early because the Romans had to get back to Camp Jupiter and to their schools and jobs. Nevertheless, the celebrations were in full swing. The dead had been burned in their funeral shrouds and their ashes either packed up for their next of kin or thrown into the breeze over Long Island Sound. Centuries-old rivalries had been put aside and now Romans could be seen fighting side-by-side with the Greeks in Capture the Flag and teaming up in Harley's Three-Legged Race of Death. Of course, there had been a misunderstanding that resulted in the Apollo campers having to reattach Paolo's arms, but he'd healed alright._

 _That summer's bead was the first real one on Nico's necklace. Chiron, of course, had backtracked Nico's years as a claimed demigod and given him some of the previous year's beads that had been kept in storage in the attic, but this was the first one that Nico felt he really had earned. As a token of the bond that now united the two sides of the gods' personas, a golden laurel encircled a rearing golden pegasus - the symbols of both camps - on a silver background. If one looked closely, they could see that the names of all those who'd died in the war between the camps and against the Giants' army were etched in tiny letters in their native languages to form the images upon the bead._

 _Nico wore it proudly and happily let it rest against his orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. Will hadn't let him wear his usual black skull tee and aviator's jacket, claiming that it was too hot to be wearing that kind of clothing, but Nico figured his boyfriend was subtly reminding him of his promise to stay at Camp for the year. That or Will was ogling his biceps._

 _Their cliché infirmary trope of the doctor and the patient liking each other without admitting it to themselves - or as Jason liked to call it 'denial' - had led to the, again, extremely cliché moment where Will accidentally confessed to liking Nico while the two were fighting about Nico's bedrest. And Nico, being the impulsive idiot he was, kissed him without thinking._

 _And the rest was history._

" _Hey, Sunshine!"_

 _Will was reclined on his back with his arms resting behind his head. A blanket was spread out on the grass beneath him and he'd brought with him two goblets of coke and a package of gummy worms - Nico's favourites._

 _The air was humid and the gummy worms sticky as they lay on the blanket together, watching the other campers make their way to the beach. Several campfires flickered dimly in the dusk, though Nico knew they would be extinguished before the main event began. Nico and Will didn't join in the songs around them; despite rivalling his namesake and half-brother, William Shakespeare, in terms of poetry and prose, Will sang like a dying narwhal. So instead the listened to the other Apollo campers attempting to teach their Roman counterparts a song about how their grandmother got ready for war._

 _They were silent for the time it took for several songs to pass before Will sat up and began picking dandelions from the sparse grass that littered the edge where the beach and hills met. He blocked what he was doing from Nico's view momentarily before spinning around and plopping something on Nico's head._

" _Tada!"_

 _Will look so proud of himself that Nico wondered what he'd made. Curiously, Nico took whatever it was off his head. It was a dandelion crown._

 _He grinned. "Will, you're such a sap."_

 _Will's smile wavered a bit. "Well, you don't have to wear it if-"_

" _No. Shut up. I'm going to wear this forever," Nico growled and put the crown back on, pulling Will in for a chaste kiss._

 _When they broke, Will grinned. "I think your step-mom would approve."_

 _They leaned in for a kiss again but were interrupted by the sound of pounding feet and hands pulling them apart._

 _Will spluttered and blushed when Percy and Jason loomed over Nico protectively, their shadows blocking out the last of the sunlight so Will was bathed in darkness._

" _Dudes! Keep it PG!" Percy glared at Will. "And aren't you two too young to be - ya know….kissing?"_

 _Nico rolled his eyes. "Shove it, Jackson. And technically -"_

" _Yeah, yeah," Percy said, "You're eighty-five, I know. But you_ look _fifteen and are therefore a child!"_

 _Nico raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Weren't you fifteen when Annabeth kissed you in the labyrinth?"_

 _Jason turned to Percy as Percy spluttered. "Bro, you have to tell me this story." Then he turned back to Nico, "Still, you two better be safe."_

 _Nico could practically feel the heat radiating off Will's face but ignored his blushing boyfriend. "Safe like when you and Piper made out on the roof of your cabin after lights-out?"_

 _Jason's face went beet red and he opened his mouth to fire a retort when Piper's voice said: "What's going on here?"_

 _All four boys wisely clammed up, not wanting to risk the wrath of Piper or the others that were with her. Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Piper, and Reyna approached them, arms ladened with bowls of chips and pitchers of coke and lemonade._

 _Reyna, however, seeing Will's face which had yet to return to its normal colour, picked up on the situation quickly. She glared daggers at the son of Apollo. "You break his heart, we break your face, got it?"_

 _Will swallowed meekly and quickly nodded his head before everyone broke into laughter._

" _We were just messing with you, man!" Percy said._

 _Hazel giggled behind her hand. "Sorry, it was their idea, but it was quite funny."_

 _Frank just kind of gave Nico an awkward thumbs up._

" _Very funny guys." Nico rolled his eyes and went back to laying down beside his nervous boyfriend._

 _He had the most overprotective family in the world._

 _The others laid their own blankets down beside Nico and Will's, going silent as the campfires went out and the first of the fireworks lit up the sky._

 _Nico wished he could stay there forever._

 **I know, I know. This chapter is really short, but I figured I should get** ** _something_** **out for you guys so you are reminded I still care about this story and its readers.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I am so sorry for not updating sooner. Things have been hectic with school and work and I've hardly found the time to sleep, let alone write, so this chapter might be weird, brought to you by my sleep-deprived brain.**

Tingling in his fingers. That was the first thing Nico noticed when the world began making sense again. He didn't open his eyes, not yet. He needed to get his bearings first. He needed to orientate himself from his dream - ground himself back to the present. He discreetly twitched his feet. They seemed to be covered with some sort of blanket, so he was in a bed of some sorts. They weren't chained to the bed, so not likely in a prison cell.

The tingling, not unlike pins-and-needles, spread further up his hand and his forearm. There was some quiet murmuring and shuffling from somewhere nearby and Nico's eyebrows scrunched minutely. There was the smell of antiseptic and something else like a horrible concoction of skunk spray and flowers. The air was still, save for the continued movement near his bed and the quiet breathing of a person near him.

Nico discreetly turned his attention to the person speaking in hushed tones near him.

"-don't understand why he hasn't-"

They brushed a hand over Nico's forehead and he sat up quickly, snatching the hand from his face and holding whoever it was firmly by the wrist.

There was a started gasp of breath as the person Nico had surprised reeled from the shock of a seemingly comatose patient waking up to attack them. As his vision cleared and rational thinking took over, the person who'd been tending to him became clearer. A stern looking matron with greying hair and wrinkle lines was staring sternly down at him.

"Now if you're done, Mr. di Angelo, that is quite enough. I will not have my patients assault me upon waking in my care."

Her tone was so stern and disapproving that Nico was reminded of his childhood nannies lecturing him upon the proper decorum that was expected of an ambassador's grandson. He sheepishly released her reddening wrist was an apologetic smile.

"Forgive me," Nico said, glancing around him. "But where am I?"

Nico looked around. Soft evening light seeped through large gothic-style windows and illuminated the rather large room he was in. A row of cots lined either side of the room, all of them empty except for the one he was currently lying in. Large cabinets filled with vials and bottles towered on either side of a small entrance to what was presumably another room. Nico glanced at himself and his heart nearly stopped.

His uniform was gone. Instead, he was left only in his white undershirt that he had been wearing under his jumper. He quickly looked under the blanket. Thank the gods. He was still wearing his pants.

There was a soft chuckling from his other side and Nico whipped around to see the Headmaster wearing one of his hideous purple robes and seated in the chair beside Nico's bed.

"Do you make it a habit to watch your students sleep?" Nico asked. He knew it was rude, but he was disoriented and grumpy and frankly didn't care what the Headmaster thought.

But Dumbledore just gave his twinkly-eyed smile. "Only when the said student is a transfer from America who collapsed in potions class." His smile dimmed and a serious expression took over his face. "Nico, my boy, why haven't you asked for help? Clearly, you have not been taking care of yourself and I wonder if, perhaps, this _assignment_ given to you is not, ah, too much for a child to shoulder alone?"

Nico was _seething_. He ignored Dumbledore's possessive comment - despite his urge to mutter " _not your boy"_ back to him - and focused on the insult the old man had just uttered towards his maturity. Nico _hated_ it when others did that - focused only on his physical age and not on the person inside. He was nearly as old as the Headmaster and had been through just as much, yet still got treated as a child.

"I'm fine," Nico said coldly, "Shouldn't you be playing with your pawns?"

If Dumbledore heard the jab, he didn't rise to it.

"Besides," Nico continued, "I've done this before. No one's ever cared before, so why should you?"

Dumbledore frowned and gestured for the Healer to take a break in her office. Clearly, they were going to have an unwanted conversation involving classified things. Nico was _so_ looking forward to it.

He waited for the Matron to leave earshot before continuing.

"Mr. di Angelo," he said, clasping his hands together. "I do not know what you have experienced under the regime of the gods-"

Nico resisted the urge to remind Dumbledore that the Wizarding World was under the regime of the gods.

"But here at Hogwarts, you are safe." Dumbledore continued. "It is not even the winter holidays. Even if you choose to leave after the school year has ended, that still leaves several months for your quest. You do not have to neglect your health to succeed."

Nico was unimpressed. "Uh huh. Is that what you tell Harry?"

Dumbledore frowned. "Mr. Potter is a special case, Mr. di Angelo. He is burdened with the destiny of saving the Wizarding World from the second rise of Voldemort."

"What do you mean?" Nico asked, struggling to keep his temper under control. "I've heard everything about his past adventures and it seems like you have a large hand in making sure he confronts the big baddie at the end of every year."

Dumbledore sighed and there was true sorrow reflected in his eyes when Nico looked. He truly seemed saddened by everything Harry had to go through, but not regretful.

"Mr. Potter is the source of a prophecy given when he was an infant. By being the Chosen One, Harry will be tested at every turn in this coming war and I am simply ensuring that he is prepared when it does happen. And I did not do everything. The only thing I planned were the tests guarding the Philosopher's Stone in his first year. I had to ensure that he was prepared to accept his place in the prophecy. The rest were not of my doing. Yes, Mr. Potter was endangered in those exploits, but he has also-"

"He could have been _killed!_ "

Dumbledore shook his head. "He was being tested in a secure, controlled environment. I was always there to ensure that nothing went wrong."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you only intervene when he was on the verge of _dying_?"

"Regardless," Dumbledore said, changing the subject, "Mr. Potter is an important player in this war and needs to be trained as such."

Nico saw red.

The world was shaking and Nico was the epicenter of the explosion. Rage boiled in his gut and it was all Nico could do to keep the shadows on their leash. If he let them slip, if he held the reigns lax for even a second... well, he wasn't sure _what_ would happen, but it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Harry…

He was only fifteen - no more than a boy. Nico might have been the same age physically, but he'd been forced to grow up long ago. Years of war and betrayal and burying friends had ensured that. It left in Nico's place a haunted husk of a boy trying to find his way back to how he'd been on a snowy cliff in Maine.

Nico didn't know how much of that boy with the mythomagic figurine was still _him_.

He wasn't an innocent. Too many of the ghosts in Asphodel were there because of him and Nico had to see them every time he went down there - see them trying to remember who they were and what they'd done to get there.

Nico felt the same. The gods had taken a child and used him to win a war, and then cast him to the side like he was nothing, leaving a twelve-year-old boy to pick up the shattered pieces of his own life and try to move on. Sometimes he didn't know if he had escaped the bronze jar, or if he was still trapped there, slowly suffocating as the gods watched on and did nothing.

No, the same thing would not happen to Harry.

He would find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them, then move on to Tom. He would take out every single Death Eater and their associates if it meant Harry's hands stayed clean.

Will would call him a self-sacrificing doofus.

 _Will._

Slowly, Nico felt his consciousness settling back in his body. A cold feeling seeped through his skin and his vision was obscured by a heavy mist. For a moment, Nico wondered if he'd been crying. When blinking his eyes didn't clear his vision, Nico realized that _he_ was the cause of it. He'd cooled the air to fog. A glance down showed frost had frozen over the sheets where his hands scrunched the blankets.

Letting out a slow breath, Nico could feel the warmth return to the air as he bottled his emotions up once more. When he got back to his father's kingdom, he'd have to ask for more information about his newfound cryokinesis.

Nico watched the light dusting of frost melt on the sheets and pointedly ignored the looks the headmaster was giving him. Only once the ringing in his ears had died down and his breathing evened out did Nico look up.

Both the Headmaster and the Matron were standing over him, looking varying degrees of annoyed, astonished, and fearful.

"Mr. di Angelo," the Matron reprimanded, "I demand an explanation. This was not recorded in your medical history."

Without bothering to wonder _how_ they'd even gotten a copy of his medical records, Nico decided it would be in his best interests to tell the truth - well, half of it anyways.

"My school, Hecate's School of Magic, specializes in the witches and wizards of America that have certain… genetic abilities. We're trained to be the last line of defense for the nobility of the American mystical society."

The Matron had already seen the scars that littered his chest and arms, so Nico saw no reason to hide how he'd got them. At least there wouldn't be any unwanted questioning on the matter - hopefully…

"We're trained mostly in physical combat," Nico continued. "And our family magicks. That's what just happened. I usually have better control over it, but I just slipped for a moment. It won't happen again."

The Matron frowned and was silent for several moments. "Well then, I hope your school Medi-Witch is more competent than she seems."

Nico bristled at the jab, but only clenched his teeth and said nothing.

"Most of those scars have been left to heal naturally and several are still in various states of healing." The Matron summoned a parchment out of thin air and continued to read from it. "Deep lacerations to the biceps and back, recent malnutrition and exhaustion of the body, and several shallower lacerations found across the body that have recently healed. It seems you used Muggle methods to stitch them up. Is that correct, Mr. di Angelo?"

Nico gave a curt nod. It was true that he'd had as much nectar and ambrosia that he could risk without burning from the inside out, but with the state he'd been in after the Giant's defeat, they couldn't use much on him, so Reyna and Will had been forced to resort the mortal stitches, steri strips, and Olympus-themed band aids. If Nico had to look at one more band aid with Apollo giving him a thumbs up, he was going to lose it.

The Matron put the parchment down and sat on another chair next to Nico's cot opposite Dumbledore, "Those injuries are consistent. They all have a residual… smell, if you would, of gold dust and enchanted metal. However, you have one on your left hand that is isolated from the others."

Nico's heart stopped cold in his chest.

"How is it, Mr. di Angelo, that that particular wound is the newest of them and the only one reeking of dark magic?"

 _Styx. He was screwed._

Dumbledore took his hand gently and turned it so the angry red scars flashed sharply in the waning sunlight. Since his first detention with Umbridge, he'd returned multiple times, usually for most of the evening, mostly because he'd sided with Harry in class or spoken out against Voldemort or the Ministry. Or he'd bad-mouthed her. Anyone of the four was possible on any given day. He'd come to dread the pink interior of her office with the same loathing as when he saw the Hunters of Artemis. Each detention, he had to remind himself that he was undercover. It was the only thing that stopped him from snapping the quills and obliterating Umbridge with nothing but a flick of the wrist.

Even still, as much as he hated Umbridge, he had a feeling that if he got her fired, it would bring to the attention of the wrong people, and he simply couldn't risk that happening at this stage in the quest. He didn't need any more distractions. Getting an education was unnecessary enough, he didn't want to be drawn into Wizarding politics any more than he needed to.

Nico snatched his hand away from the Headmaster. "It's nothing."

A fragile silence descended over the room. No one seemed to want to break it and risk shattering everything within.

Finally, the Matron spoke up hesitantly. "I can prescribe some potions to you that the house elves can deliver with your breakfast if you'd like. They would speed up the healing of your wounds and fade the scars slightly."

As much as the offer sounded appealing, Nico knew he couldn't risk it. He didn't know how similar the potions would be to nectar or how his different genetic makeup might affect their effects on his body. With a shake of his head, Nico denied it.

"Then is there anything we can do to help you?" Dumbledore spoke for the first time since Nico had frozen the room. His eyes were sad and his voice was soft. If Nico wasn't angry at him at the moment, it might have seemed sincere.

Silently, Nico tilted his head towards the Matron. Dumbledore suggested that she go take inventory of their medicine cabinet. She understood what the dismissal was and left them alone.

"Professor Dumbledore," Nico took a deep breath. "Tell me everything you know about Tom Riddle's Horcruxes."


	19. Chapter 19

**I am a horrible human being for procrastinating on this with no reason. I am so sorry.**

Dumbledore leaned back in his creaky wooden chair and clasped his finger together on his lap. "That isn't very clear, Mr. di Angelo. What do you need to know specifically?"

Nico looked around for a piece of paper and a pencil. The only thing he could find was the medical paper the Matron had left beside him and a quill that still dripped ink from its tip. It would have to do; it wasn't like she actually _needed_ it for anything. "Anything you can tell me, really. Locations, ideas of what they might be - anything. I already know there's at least one in Gringotts, but that's all."

With a raised eyebrow, Dumbledore stroked his beard in thought. "I suspected Tom had created the Horcruxes when Harry destroyed one in the Chamber of Secrets in his second year, but I did not actively begin looking for them until you arrived at the school this year."

Nico gave a little grunt of annoyance.

"As for locations," Dumbledore continued. "Tom was always a very sentimental person. In the first war, there was always method to his madness. He chose the sites of battles specifically because of the metaphorical value - birthplaces of great wizards, the barren grounds of the battles of the goblin wars, locations of ancient ritual sites - as though he wanted everything to be associated with him."

Nico drummed his fingers on his knee. He still hadn't written anything down. "So what you're saying is that Voldemort might have made his Horcruxes in things that were meaningful to him?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I believe the diary Harry destroyed was the first he made, the only one created while he was still using the name Tom Riddle. The others will be harder to track down, but as we know who Voldemort really is, it should be easier. Tom would have chosen something of great importance to him or place it somewhere meaningful. He-"

Dumbledore trailed off and got a far-away look in his eyes.

"Mr. di Angelo," he said suddenly. "The trick you did back at Headquarters, when you knew where the Horcrux was - how did you do it?"

Nico blinked at the unexpected question. "Well… part of the abilities I inherited from my father is Necromancy. I am, essentially, what a Grim Reaper is, but _more_. I control the souls of the dead and I am their master. But I am also mortal, so I have a more profound connection with death than any immortal can understand." He let out a low breath. "Demigods - we walk the line between two worlds, and the gods fear us. We can feel things they can only dream of, simply because we are more in tune with the natural balance of the world. That is even more true for me because I am a child of the Underworld; I am _part_ of that balance."

There was silence between the two of them as Dumbledore considered what he'd just said. The only noise in the room was the quiet bubbling of the potions on Nico's bedside table and the shuffling of the Matron in her office at the other end of the room. Nico could see her watching them out of the corners of her eyes, and figured she was probably straining her ears to listen to him, but Nico didn't care. At this point, he was beyond caring about keeping the secret. The Matron already knew more than most people did, and Nico figured she'd know even more before this war came to an end.

"If," Dumbledore said at last, "you were able to find a Horcrux, would you be able to sense the whereabouts of the others through it?"

Nico licked his lips. "Since they are the same soul, probably. Souls… they leave a… well, I could call it a _scent_ in the air. It smells like _death_ , but unique to each soul. It's the only thing that keeps the ghosts in Asphodel from disappearing forever - a sense of individuality that death can't take away. They yearn for it forever. A Horcrux might be the same. They might yearn for each other and show me the way, but I can't be sure."

"How so?"

"When I touched Harry's scar," Nico said, "It was like standing at the apex of a battlefield. The smell of death was so strong, you couldn't tell where it was coming from. But with the Horcruxes, they were so scattered about I couldn't narrow down where they were. It would take me some time to pinpoint the individual Horcruxes and locate them."

"But could you do it?" Dumbledore asked.

Nico thought about it. "I could."

"Will you?"

"I will," Nico said, "But not for you. I'll do it because I made a promise to myself; that no child in Hogwarts will have to be a soldier too young like I was."

Dumbledore frowned and was about to say something when the doors to the infirmary slammed open. Standing there was Draco and Blaise and Theo. They stood there, stunned at the sight of the person standing beside his bed, before Draco's lip curled up in disgust.

"I believe that is my cue to take my leave." Dumbledore stood up and smoothed his robes down. "Goodbye, Mr. di Angelo. Expect to be hearing from me soon."

He passed the three fifth-years standing in the doorway and the moment he was gone, Nico's friends ran to his bedside.

"You bloody _idiot_ ," Blaise said, punching his arm lightly. "You had us all worried."

Draco scoffed. "Not all of us."

"Mmhm," Blaise said, clearly not believing him.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Draco's just being an idiot; we were _all_ worried. You've been here for _days_. And no one knows why you collapsed either. Our potion had been made perfectly."

"It was probably Potty and Weasel's fault," Draco said. "They mess up everything they touch."

Nico glared at him and Draco backed off with a sheepish look on his face.

"Got Snape in trouble, though," Blaise said. "Dumbledore wasn't happy about him testing potions on us."

Nico almost snorted and said _good riddance_ , but kept his mouth shut. Instead, he asked, "What's happened since I've been out?"

They told him about Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, proudly showing off the silver 'I' pinned to their robes and about the sneaky things Draco was _sure_ Potter was getting up to, but couldn't prove. Nico wondered if Harry had gone through with starting up the DA. They also told Nico of the tests and assignments he'd missed. Blaise had smugly stated that they'd left them all on Nico's bed, and Nico groaned. Yay, more work.

"I'm getting antsy sitting here doing nothing," Nico said and slid out of the bed. His uniform was neatly folded on the table beside him and Nico hastily threw it on, buttoning it up as fast as he could. "C'mon," he said, "Before the Matron catches me and makes me go back to bed."

The four of them snuck out of the hospital wing and ran down the hallway. The lacerations on his back ached and pulled at the stitches binding them, but Nico didn't care. Being out of the infirmary felt freeing. The only hospital he liked was the one back at Camp.

"So," Draco said. "Why _did_ you collapse? The whole school's been talking about it."

Inwardly, Nico groaned. So much for keeping a low profile. Outwardly, he just shrugged. "Maybe it had something to do with the different potions used here in Britain as opposed to America?"

Draco hummed but didn't look fully convinced.

The silence between them was charged, like a nuclear bomb just waiting to be launched. Something was up with his friends, Nico could tell.

Theo took the plunge. "I, um, don't want to startle the Hippogriff in the room, but I think we're all wondering the same thing. Nico, we all saw your scars when you got dressed, and don't think we haven't noticed that you're skittish around us. You're not telling us everything. How different _are_ things in America?"

Nico took a deep breath. "You would not want to come to my school. I doubt you'd survive."

oO0Oo

The package came for him the next morning at breakfast. Well, two packages, actually. The first was delivered by a beautiful snowy owl that took flight from the Gryffindor table across the Great Hall. Inside was a note Nico couldn't read, and a large golden coin that looked like a galleon, but shimmered with magic. As he turned it over in his hand, it grew hot and a date appeared, as well as a time and what was probably the location. Nico glanced up and made eye contact with Harry, who nodded down at the coin in Nico's hand and nudged his head towards the occupants seated with Nico. He got the message and slipped the coin in his pocket, feeling the heat from it resonate through the fabric against his skin.

The second package was larger and flew in with the rest of the post, delivered by Icarus. Nico stroked the raven's feathers as he untied the box from his claw, and then Icarus hopped away to Nico's plate, helping himself to the last of Nico's bacon.

Nico opened it and grabbed the folded piece of paper lying on top of whatever was underneath.

 _Mr. di Angelo,_ it read, thankfully in Ancient Greek. Apparently, Dumbledore had listened after all.

 _Inclosed in this box is the remains of the first Horcrux destroyed. Tom Riddle's diary no longer has the Horcrux inside of it, but I hope that enough remains that you can locate the others from this one. Otherwise, we will have to find an alternate solution._

 _I hope I do not have to remind you to not let this fall into the wrong hands. If Tom or his followers find out we are actively searching for the Horcruxes, even if they do not recognize them for what they are, it could be disastrous for the Light._

 _A.P.W.B. Dumbledore._

 _Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

 _Order of Merlin, First Class_

 _Grand Sorc._

 _Chf. Warlock_

 _Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards_

Nico raised an eyebrow. That was one hell of a name. And did he _really_ have to state all his titles in an informal letter?

Nico felt eyes watching him, and looked up to see Parkinson looking at him with a calculating expression on her face. Nico closed the box quickly and dropped it in his bookbag at his feet. He looked her in the eyes challengingly and smirked when she looked away with a huff.

oO0Oo

It was Thursday, which meant he had a spare. Normally, Nico would find himself in the library, reading dusty old tombs that made his nose itch or catching up on the sleep he'd been ignoring in favour of doing research. However, Nico wasn't going to do either.

He found himself sitting cross-legged on his bed, ruined diary open on his lap. Dried ink soaked the pages and there was a massive hole through the cover like someone had stabbed it with a horn or a tooth. That, however, didn't matter to Nico. What he needed was inside the fabric of the diary itself.

He breathed in slowly and let it out. He needed to concentrate. If there was any tiny residue of soul left within the diary, it wouldn't reveal itself easily.

Nico laid a hand on the diary, feeling for the stench of _wrong_ and _cold_ and _blood_.

 _Hello?_ Nico asked.

The word echoed across space and time. Nico gritted his teeth and tried to hone in closer to the aura the diary was emitting.

 _Hello? I know you're there._ Nico tried again. _Tom, I know this is your diary._

 _How do you know my name?_ A voice answered from out of the darkness. A figure stepped out of the shadows. _How did you come by my diary?_

The boy in front of him was pale and unearthly. His dark eyes bore no sign of happiness and his thin lips looked like they could stretch into a cruel smile easily. If Nico didn't know better, he would have said he was looking at the face of a brother, another one who'd destroyed the world for his own gain.

 _Are you Tom?_

 _Yes. Who are you?_

Nico just grinned and _lunged_ at the figure, wrapping his hands around the other boy's cold wrist and stepping into the darkness of memories and dreams.

 **Did anyone find the subtle Hamlet quote I threw in there?**


	20. Chapter 20

**Two updates in one week? What is the world coming to?**

 **For real, though, I will be in Scotland (!) for the next two weeks and won't have access to WiFi, so I won't be able to upload anything. Not that you guys aren't used to me dropping off the face of the earth for weeks at a time...**

 **Sorry. But this time, I swear I have an actual excuse other than laziness and procrastination.**

 **So yeah, enjoy!**

No matter how often he did it, Nico knew he'd never get used to dream walking for as long as he lived.

It was surreal, walking through another person's dreams. You swam through darkness that no water to swim in and breathed in the lack of air. You were in different places at once, always shifting and changing identities. Clovis from the Hypnos cabin liked to compare it to being a god; Nico thought it more like being whacking around like one of Hypnos's tennis balls - if the god played tennis.

The ground dissolved at his feet and Nico fell through darkness, passing dreamscape after dreamscape, memory after memory. Unlike traditional dream walking, however, these memories belong solely to Tom Marvolo Riddle, not the hundreds of random people Nico was used to seeing.

He stayed as still as possible, trusting the mental link with the diary to take him to what he needed to see. He didn't want to risk falling into the void beneath him. There was no telling what was down there; if he would end up in a dream, or back on his bed, or simply fall into the realm of Nyx forever.

The darkness might have been his birthright, but that didn't mean that Nico wasn't scared of it.

His feet drifted slowly to the ground. Though he was like a ghost in this dreamscape, the grass was still cool beneath his feet and the balmy summer breeze whispered in his ears. The crunching of gravel behind him alerted Nico to the presence of another person and he turned in time to see an older Tom Riddle make his way up the path from the manor house at the other end of the road.

Actually, when Nico looked closer, he realized that Tom wasn't much older at all - two of three years, tops. He was tossing something up and down in his hand and twirling his wand carelessly between his fingers.

The crooked paleness of the wand gave away more about his character than the unassuming mortal clothes and neatly parted hair ever would. Yet, as Tom passed by Nico, unaware that there was a spectator to his crime, Nico got a better look at him. There was a shine of sweat on his pale brow and the expression in his eyes were slightly fractured and deranged.

The boy who would become Lord Voldemort approached a run-down shack hidden in a tangle of trees. Nico padded silently along, slipping through the branches to keep pace with Tom as he weaved his way to the door. There was a dead snake nailed to it, and Nico felt bile rise up in his throat. He was no stranger to death and corpses, but that was simply _barbaric_.

Nico watched as Tom withdrew a small golden box no bigger than his fist from the pocket of his blazer. He opened it and dropped the object inside, which is when Nico finally got a good look at it.

It was a ring. A simple gold band with a dark stone that seemed to be made from the night itself. Etched into the stone was a symbol Nico had never seen. A triangle with a circle in the middle and a line dividing the whole thing in half. Nico tried to commit it to memory.

Tom waved his wand and muttered something over the ring and it glowered red momentarily before he snapped the lip shut on the box and bent to hid it beneath a rotting floorboard.

Before Nico could even think of looking outside to try to find the location of the shack, his feet sank through the grass and the dreamscape fell around him.

He stifled a yelp as he melted unexpectedly through the earth. Whispers urged him into the darkness between memories, compelling him to join the legions of the dead. Several times he thought he heard familiar voices calling out to him, but that could have just been his imagination.

All too late, he felt the temperature in the air change and the wind gain a salty smell that reminded him of hanging out with Percy down by canoe lake. The son of Poseidon always smelt of the sea, but this smell was malicious and _tainted_ , not at all like the warm Mediterranean currents Percy reminded him of. Nico looked down and his heart skipped a beat. Below him, a swirling sea of rough waves and foggy water crashed against an island nearby. There was a boat moored at the edge of said island and two figures strolled along the rocky outcropping near the centre of the island.

There was a tug behind his navel and when the stars cleared from his eyes, Nico was sprawled on his back looking up at the cloudy sky. He heard the swish of a cloak and the pattering of smaller feet and Nico scrambled up from where he'd been laying on the stone floor. Two figures approached him out of the gloom, picking their way silently up the stones. One of them was very short, only came up to Nico's knee and walked like a hunchback, muttering derangedly the entire time. The other was several inches taller than Nico and looked vaguely human in the mists of the island. He walked with a familiar gait and carried himself in a way similar to someone Nico knew, but couldn't put his finger on.

They appeared out of the darkness and stopped several feet from Nico, and he held his breath. Logically, he knew they couldn't see him, but he also had to remind himself that this was a world of _magic_ , and he shouldn't let his guard down.

"Remember, Kreacher," the man said, addressing the ugly house-elf at his side, "You must return home to Grimmauld Place as soon as you get the locket. The Dark Lord believes there is a spy among his followers, and I will not have the Black family name tainted if he finds you here with his Horcrux."

With a start, Nico realized why this man had seemed so familiar. His black hair flowed to his shoulders in a soft wave and his high cheekbones and pale skin reminded Nico of one of the members of the Order he'd met briefly in the summer.

He was staring at the face of a younger Sirius Black. _So much younger_ , barely a few years older than Nico. Eighteen at most.

Then Nico's eyes drifted to the man's face and singled in on one detail.

Unlike Sirius's steel grey eyes, his were the blue-grey of the sky in a thunderstorm. And Kreacher acted differently around this man, more open and, dare Nico say it, kinder.

With a startled kind of sorrow, Nico knew immediately that he was looking at the face of a dead man. It wasn't the fact that Sirius never talked about it - Nico didn't even _know_ the man had a brother and he'd lived with him for almost three weeks. Nico couldn't sense an aura of death around the man in this dream (because he wasn't dead in this memory) and it wasn't even the fact that he was betraying Voldemort and _nobody_ got away with that.

It was the sag in his shoulders and the melancholy air around this man, like he knew what he was going to do and had no intention of coming back from it.

"Of course, Master Regulus," Kreacher said with a bow of the head.

Together, they walked towards the crest of the island, Nico following close behind. There was a shallow cave in the rock and in the centre of that was a bird-bath-looking thing that shone with a light-blue light.

Regulus Black braced himself of the side of the bird-bath and let out a shaky breath.

"Master Regulus," Kreacher pleaded, "Please reconsider. Let Kreacher take the potion, Master."

"No, Kreacher. When you get the locket, go home. Leave me here."

Nico watched with a horrified fascination as Regulus drank the potion and Kreacher popped out of existence with a shining golden locket clenched tightly in his little fist. Regulus crawled towards the water, moaning of thirst, and put up no fight when the corpses came out of the water and dragged him back down with them.

Regulus Black, a child barely a man. Another victim in Voldemort's endless conquest for blood-purity and immortality.

It made Nico _sick_.

As he fell into the next memory, he wondered if Sirius ever knew that his brother died a hero.

Nico watched as a crazy woman place a cup on a pedestal inside a vault at Gringotts, shrieking about her Dark Lord and the trust he'd put in her.

If Nico was Voldemort, he wouldn't have trusted that lady with her own wand, much less the thing that was keeping him immortal.

Nico watched as Tom Riddle, probably in his early twenties or so, walked briskly down the corridors of Hogwarts, though why he would be back there after graduation, Nico didn't know. He approached a blank expanse of wall and began pacing back and forth, three times in total.

Before Nico's disbelieving eyes, a door appeared from out of _nowhere_. Tom entered it and Nico rushed to follow. Inside it was like a junkyard of magical things. Stacks of broomsticks on one side, leaning against a pile of chairs. There was a giant wardrobe looming over Nico and Tom, a pile of potions textbooks and pillows in its shadow. It was like people had put these things here and simply… forgotten about them.

Tom stopped in front of an altar decorated in black cloth and inscribed with whispering, shimmering golden runes. From the inside of his cloak, he withdrew a silver tiara with a blue gem in the middle and placed it on top of the altar, hidden away from view when a person initially entered the room.

Nico only had time to wonder briefly about the hidden room in Hogwarts before he fell into the next memory.

Tom Riddle, in his form as Lord Voldemort, lounged on a chair of carved black wood. His snake-like nostrils flared when Nico silently floated down to the ground before him. Voldemort scanned the room with his red eyes, as though he could sense Nico was there.

"Nagini, my dear," Voldemort said, and Nico barely suppressed a shudder. If a person's voice could sound like nails on a chalk-board, Voldemort's did. "Come to me."

From the depths of the shadows, a snake slithered towards the crude throne. It was easily as long as Jason and Percy put together, and neither of them were short. Smooth, hunter-green scales flexed as the snake curled around the leg and armrest of the chair and piercing yellow eyes stared _right at Nico_ as a forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth.

"Tell me, Nagini, is there anyone there?"

The snake just continued to stare at Nico, forked tongue tasting the air and Nico wondered if it could _smell_ the scent of death Nico carried with him. A cold shiver ran down Nico's spine, like a Boread was trailing his fingers along Nico's back. He got the feeling the snake _could_.

 _Death, lord_. All the colour went out of Nico's face - not that there was much to begin with. The snake knew he was there. _A child of Death is with us in this very room._

"Is that so?" Voldemort asked, and turned to fixate his eyes directly on Nico's. "Then we shall welcome our guest properly."

Nico's eyes widened in terror as Voldemort waved his hand and he fell into _nothingness_.


	21. Chapter 21

**Guess who's the worst author in the world? That's right, it's me!**

 **I am so sorry you guys. I meant to update when I got back from Scotland (*cough* two months ago *cough*) but I had no inspiration, then life got busy, and yah...**

 **I'm taking two AP courses this semester and I work up to eighteen hours a week, so updates are probably going to be slower than usual (which is saying something), but I will update every chance I get.**

 **I wrote a bit of a longer chapter for you guys because of that. Enjoy!**

Nico sat up in bed, gasping. The diary was closed and lay innocently on his chest like it hadn't just transported Nico through some of the most disturbing memories he'd ever seen.

His shoulders shook and Nico buried his head in his hands.

 _Seven Horcruxes._

If Nico hadn't been lulled to sleep with the sounds of the Fields of Punishment, he would have wondered how a person could become such a monster. As it was, he knew all too well how; it had nearly been him only a few years before. Who knew what sort of things Minos might have goaded him into doing if Nico hadn't banished him.

Taking a long breath through his nose, Nico exhaled through his mouth and brushed at the dampness under his eyes.

 _Fuck, he was terrified_.

He'd never have thought to have admitted it to himself, least of all on _this_ quest, but it was true. Hellhound on the monster scale Voldemort might be, but Nico had forgotten the bloodlust in the eyes of that monster, the cold and calculating gaze that told that it would do anything to hunt its prey down.

Those were the worst kinds of monsters, the ones who possessed human-like intelligence. Their minds were whirlwinds of numbers and figures, of statistics and battle plans. They knew what they wanted and exactly how they were going to get it.

And that scared the shit out of any demigod.

Clearing his throat, Nico slid off the bed, careful to hide the diary in the chest at the foot of his bed and slipped out the door. He closed the door and was about to head to the common room when the floorboards creaked behind him. Nico whirled around and scanned the dim corridor, lit only by flickering torches placed sporadically along the stone walls in iron brackets.

There was nothing there, not even another student, but the hairs on the back of his neck rose all the same. His hand drifted down to his waist, where he had a Stygian knife there, concealed within the folds of his cloak. He'd left his sword in his room after the incident with Lovegood in case anyone else could see it, but now he was starting to regret that decision. Nico shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action if something _did_ materialize from the darkness.

"Di Angelo?"

In a heartbeat, Nico had his knife in his hand and was turning on his heel, the blade making a hissing noise as it sliced through the stagnant dungeon air.

"Bloody Hel-"

There was a yelp and a flash of blond hair as someone ducked his swing and Nico froze, the knife in his hands hovering barely centimetres above the head of Draco Malfoy.

"What the-?"

" _Draco!_ "

Feet pounded down the hall and Nico released his grip on the knife, barely hearing it clatter to the ground. Blood roared in his ears and the green and greys and silvers of the dank hallway seemed to dim.

 _He'd nearly killed his classmate._

If Draco hadn't of ducked the moment he had, he would have found himself with a Stygian iron blade buried five inches into his neck.

 _Nico_ had almost buried a knife _five inches_ into his _neck_.

His legs gave way underneath him and he collapsed to the ground with his back against the wall. He hugged his knees to his chest and tucked his head against them, breathing deeply to try to control his racing heart.

Gradually, his senses came back to him and he heard whispering that became louder with every heartbeat.

" _What kind of freak brings a_ knife _to Hogwarts?"_

" _He looked like he was really scared, Draco."_

" _He tried to_ kill me _, Blaise. He doesn't deserve to look scared."_

" _Yeah, but…"_

Oh gods. They were talking about _him_.

The name stung, bringing unwanted memories of boarding schools and labyrinths, but what hurt, even more, was the fact that they didn't disagree with Draco. Even their concern for him was half-hearted and dismissive.

"Nico?"

That was Theo, and Nico looked up to see him holding a hand out of him. He accepted it and Theo pulled him up, but immediately released him as soon as he was up - as if Nico's hand burned. For all Nico knew, it did.

The three of them were looking at him now, and Nico could barely force himself to meet their eyes. He was only glad that all the commotion hadn't drawn any other students to them.

Blaise's lips were tightly drawn and his arms were crossed, forming a hulking mass of solid muscle as he positioned himself subtly in front of Draco.

Nico dropped his eyes quickly and pushed past them, picking up speed as he ran down the corridor, into the common room, and out the door, until the stone walls were nothing but a blur. He didn't know where he was running, only that he had to get _away._

He flew through the castle, ignoring the shouts of others as he pushed past them. Adrenaline pumping and lungs straining, Nico raced down the dying glass, barely noticing the colours that blanketed the hill and the bare branches of the trees casting shadows in the Forbidden Forest.

The air as he entered the Forbidden Forest seemed to change, becoming dark and menacing, but not inherently _evil_ \- like it was curious and watching with bated breath.

Nico paid no attention to it. He lept over rocks and streams, just _running_. The shadows loomed and attempted to draw him into their embrace, but he pushed them off, sprinting deeper into the forest.

It wasn't until his foot caught on a root (that he was pretty sure hadn't been raised a moment before) that he stopped.

Skidding across the dirt and leaves, he came to a halt next to a gnarled beech tree. The forest went silent as he let out a wordless noise of frustration, slamming his fists into the ground then immediately regretting it as his knuckles cracked off a rock buried under the knotgrass and leaves.

Breathing in deeply, Nico tried to reign in his emotions.

He'd nearly killed someone who he might have called his friend and then run without explanation. Nearly buried a knife into their neck.

Nico might not have had much experience with friends, but even he knew that was a deal-breaker.

Something wet rolled down the sharp ridge of his cheekbone and Nico raised a hand to brush at it. Water glistened on his fingertips and Nico swallowed the lump in his throat.

He wanted Will, but the holidays couldn't come fast enough. They were still over a month away and even then, Nico wasn't sure if Will could even come. He'd tried to Iris Message him and Camp, but it was risky, using his ring and the candles in the showers. Anyone could walk in at any moment - plus, the connection was really bad.

The sooner he destroyed the Horcruxes, the sooner he could leave this gods-forsaken school and go back home to New York.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up off the ground, ignoring how his legs protested and shook and how his lungs still fluttered unevenly, trying to draw in oxygen. He would just have to grin and bear it until he finished his mission and got the approval of the gods. The first step was getting back to the castle and speaking to Dumbledore.

Then he looked around.

Which way had he come?

Nico didn't know how long he had been in a trance, staring into the diary's memories, nor how long he'd been running, but the shadows were beginning to grow larger, taking over space where sunlight had sent sparse beams of gold through the gaps in the red-orange canopy above. There were the skid marks and the resulting pile of leaves where Nico had tripped over the tree root, but that didn't guarantee anything. He'd weaved through the forest, changing directions whenever an obstacle presented itself and just kept running. If he headed back in the direction where he'd fallen, there wouldn't be any guarantee he would come out at the edge of the Forbidden Forest near the castle.

For all he knew, he'd run all the way to Glencoe.

(Though probably not; demigods had more endurance than mortals, but even _that_ was stretching it, especially because he still wasn't healed.)

In all honesty, Nico was just about to pick a direction and start walking, when there was the sound of crunching leaves behind him.

Nico turned around warily, hand on the knife at his side but hesitant to draw it in case of another incident like back at the castle.

What he saw, however, made him relax his grip, though his hand never left the hilt of the knife.

A centaur stood there, shoulder set back and bow draw, the arrow pointing at Nico's throat.

"Who dares venture on our lands?" There was a hard glint to the centaur's dark eyes and the wood groaned as he drew the string back marginally.

"Uh," Nico was at a loss for words. "I'm, uh, I'm Nico?"

"Is that a question or an answer, boy?" Nothing had changed in the centaur's expression, but Nico could tell he found him curious. "How did you get here? The Forest is forbidden to students and my clan lives far from the eye of wizards."

"I ran," Nico said bluntly, staring gobsmacked at the centaur.

It wasn't that he had never seen a centaur before; rather, it was that he haad never seen one that looked quite like this.

He wasn't like the Party Ponies, who wore face-paint and stupid hats and got drunk off rootbeer. He wasn't like Chiron either - didn't have the same look about him.

Rather, this centaur looked like what Nico had imagined centaurs to look like before he'd met them.

The centaur had pale skin marred by scars and long brown hair that cascaded in waves down his back. The horse-part of him was auburn with a tail the same shade as his hair that twitched behind him almost unconsciously. A quiver of arrows was strapped to his back and he held a bow in his hands.

"You ran?" the centaur deadpanned. "The Castle is several miles back and at least a two-hour ride away. You lie, child."

" _No!_ " Nico yelped and drew his knife. "I swear it by the gods, I lost track of how far I ran!"

He expected a retort from the centaur, but the centaur's gaze was fixed on the knife now in Nico's hand.

The centaur lowered his bow and came closer to Nico, inclining his upper body slightly in respect. "It has been a long time since a demigod graced these forests, and I ask your forgiveness that I did not notice it sooner."

Mystified, Nico just blinked.

"You are a long way from the castle, child. A demigod _and_ an American - for what reason are you here?"

Nico swallowed and looked at the centaur that towered above him. "I've, uh, been sent here to stop the war."

The centaur nodded and looked to the sky, not responding for a long while. After a few moments, Nico took a couple of steps back, intent on leaving, when the centaur finally spoke.

"It is strange to see Mars so early in the night. Even stranger is how Saturn lurks in his shadow and Pluto is unusually bright. Those three are not normally seen together."

The centaur turned to Nico, his dark eyes boring holes in Nico's chest. "Take heed, demigod. Unrest casts its shadow over all and war brews on the horizon. I fear for the safety of my children, as you should fear for your friends. If Mars has decided to grace us with his presence so early, conflict is not far away."

Nico just stood there, frozen and speechless. Sure, he knew why he was here and had desired for everything to be over quickly, but it wasn't until that moment that it really hit him that he was all alone in this. He was the only one, save for a few teachers and the Order of the Pheonix, who truly knew what they were up against, and, even worse, was the only one who could stop him.

The centaur didn't seem offended by Nico's silence. Instead, he just bowed his head once more and turned, disappearing back into the shadows of the forest.

By now, Nico's shoes were damp from the cold grass (and probably the dozen or so bogs he'd run through without thinking) and he shivered in the cool night air. He didn't realize until then that he was only wearing his house tie and cotton button-up, which had become untucked from his pants during his run, making him appear just as shaken as he felt, his sweater and cloak nowhere in sight. Belatedly, he realized he'd left them on his bed at the dorm - along with his wand and the diary. Sure, they were in his trunk, but Nico couldn't remember if he'd locked it or not, and if he hadn't, the other boys in his dorm were probably raiding his stuff at that moment in retribution for what he'd done.

As angry as it made him, Nico really couldn't fault them. It just made him _tried_.

The centaur had made him realize how quickly this war was approaching and how little time Nico had left to put it off. As much as he hated to admit it, deep down, Nico had kind of enjoyed the past couple of monster-free weeks.

Well, they do say there's no rest for the wicked.

Inwardly groaning at Will's reaction to what he was about to do if he found out, Nico wrapped the shadows around in and set course for the castle.


	22. Chapter 22

**I'm back! School sucks and I don't know when I'll be able to get another chapter out, so I made this one extra long for you guys. It's also your holiday gift, so be safe and have fun, and if I don't upload before the New Year, enjoy the last of 2019.**

The shadows spat him out in Dumbledore's office.

Nico groaned when his shoulder connected with the polished stone floor. He just laid there for a moment, curled up and watching his pale hands flicker between shadows and the mortal plane. His entire body _ached_. Shadow travelling from the Forbidden Forest to the castle had been the farthest he'd travelled without drinking unicorn draught since Tartarus.

He'd forgotten how much it hurt, especially given that he still wasn't fully healed in terms of his powers. Maybe he would swallow his pride and see if Pomfrey had any spells that could bibbidi bobbidi boo his pain away.

Nico winced as he pushed himself off the floor. He could _feel_ the bruises forming on his shoulder. _Yeah, maybe going to see Pomfrey is a good idea_.

Footsteps clicked across the stones in front of his and Nico glanced up only to be met with a wall of pink.

" _Mr. di Angelo!_ "

 _Oh shit._

It seemed as if he'd interrupted a meeting.

"Good evening, Professors," Nico said calmly as he stood up, though he could feel his heart racing in his chest.

Umbridge spluttered and Dumbledore just stared at him dumbly. He blinked several times, then seemed to grasp the situation. "Good evening to you as well, Mr. di Angelo."

"Did you not just see him, Albus?' Umbridge whirled around and glared at the Headmaster, pointing a finger at Nico. "The boy just Apparated inside Hogwarts!"

"You forget, Delores, that Apparating here is not possible," Dumbledore stated calmly.

She gaped at him, then at Nico, blinking in confusion. "But-but he-"

She went momentarily speechless again, then stomped her foot. "The Minister will hear about this. Di Angelo," she shrieked, "Another month of detentions!"

Nico's eyes widened and his blood froze in his veins. _Not now, not when he was so close to finding them._

Umbridge whirled around and walked briskly to the door leading to the spiral staircase and Nico didn't even think, he just _moved_. He lunged for Umbridge and wrapped his hands around her shoulders, pulling her to the ground and rolling so he was directly above her.

"I'd say I'm sorry, Professor, but I'm really not," Nico placed his hands on either side of her head, fingers splayed across her temples. Umbridge struggled beneath him, but she couldn't reach her hand with her arms pinned to the side and even though Nico was much smaller, he had more strength and held her in place.

"Unhand me this instant, di Angelo! I am High Inquisitor, and I will not-"

Nico pushed her voice aside and screwed his eyes shut. He wasn't _actually_ sure if he could do it - he'd never dream walked directly in someone's mind - but they said that dreams were where memories went when they became forgotten, so why couldn't he do the opposite? Cleaving his way past the mental wall Umbridge had put up, he waded past horrifying and disturbing memories that would have gotten Umbridge charged with several serious crimes in the mortal world. He was looking for the memory of what had just occurred.

He found it next to a rather terrifying memory of imprisoned wizards on a dark, god-less island.

Nico hoped there wasn't a connection.

Through all the wars and battles he'd fought, he'd never tried summoning his shadows _inside_ someone's mind. Not deterred, however, he concentrated so hard his head hurt (which was a weird out-of-body experience, to say the least) and called forth the darkness from the depths of Umbridge's mind.

With a rippling sensation that rocked Nico to his figurative knees, the shadows whirled around him, then shot forward towards the memory. As if sensing his nonverbal cues, the shadows wrapped themselves around the memory, cocooning it tightly in a swirling mass of darkness.

The memory fought but the shadows held fast. They seeped into the glowing memory until it became dull and tarnished.

Then the shadows, and the memory, faded away.

Satisfied and exhausted, Nico withdrew back to his own body. Though it was technically dream walking, it felt weird and he was not eager to do it again.

Standing up quickly, he backed away to one of the towering bookcases, blending into its shadows. He could feel Dumbledore's gaze on him, but he pointedly ignored it. Instead, he watched as Umbridge began to wake up.

The High Inquisitor sat up quickly. Her eyes darted around the room before settling on Dumbledore.

With a huff, she scrambled to her feet and straightened her pink blouse. "Albus, what on earth just happened?"

Then her eyes grew distant and she suddenly sprang forward a half-step, eyes darting around the room once more. "Where is the boy - _he was right here_!"

Dumbledore's face fell into a mask of polite bewilderment. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Delores. Mr. di Angelo was never here; it is just you and I. Perhaps you hit your head when you fell? Come," Dumbledore took a step toward Umbridge. "Let me escort you to Poppy."

"I do not need your help, Albus," Umbridge said with an arrogant sniff.

She turned on her heel, and with the clacking of her shoes against the cobbles fading with every step, left the Headmaster's office.

There was a moment of silence as they both watched the door, then Dumbledore clasped his hands before him and turned towards the bookcase where Nico was hiding.

"Mr. di Angelo, care to explain to me why you are here?"

There was nothing but curiosity in his tone, yet Nico winced as the shadows released their hold on him. "Sorry Professor. I didn't realize you were in a meeting."

Dumbledore hummed. He walked back around his desk and gently lowered himself in his chair, before picking up a bowl of brightly wrapped sweets. "Sherbert Lemon?"

Nico blinked. "Uh, no thank you."

His refusal didn't seem to dissuade Dumbledore as the old wizard popped one in his own mouth. After a moment of silence, Dumbledore spoke again.

"To rephrase my question, what are you doing here? Why not schedule a meeting ahead of time if you needed to speak with me?"

Nico could feel his annoyance rear up within him but he forced it down. "I've had a recent… _revelation_ about the Horcruxes."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair. "I trust the diary was of some help?"

"Yes, sir, in a way," When Dumbledore didn't respond, Nico hurried on, "That is to say, I've found the location of the Horcruxes - there seems to be five left - but sir," Nico hesitated, trying to think of the best way to phrase it. "I think Tom might've found _me_."

He explained what he'd seen to the Headmaster. After he was done, the two regarded each other in silence for a moment before Dumbledore stood and walked over to Nico.

"Nico, my boy, I know you are concerned with the lack of progress being made on your quest, but you need not be," He put a hand on Nico's shoulder and looked down at him with those old eyes that sparkled endlessly. "It is not yet winter break, and there are still many months left in the school year. I encourage you to _relax_ and bond with your housemates. Judging by your records and the stories you've told, you've never had the chance to be a child your own age, so take this time to be that."

Nico inwardly _seethed_. _How dare he? How dare this man, who knew_ nothing _of Nico's life, pretend to know what's best for him?_

Instead of letting his anger out like he so much wanted to, Nico clamped his hand around Dumbledore's spindly wrist and grinned wickedly as they melted into shadows.

oO0Oo

When Nico came to, he was lying on his back on the ground. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe away whatever was making them feel so _heavy_. Exhaustion weighed down on him, pressing on his chest as he tried to sit up.

" _Ah!_ Mr. di Angelo, you're awake!"

Nico made a shushing sound as he screwed his eyelids shut against the assault of light and noise.

He could feel the vibrations of whoever had spoken walking closer and Nico made and effort to pry his eyes open against the ringing in his head.

All he could see was bright blue obscured slightly by a long triangle of white down the middle. Nico blinked again and his eyes adjusted. "Professor?"

The blue blob leaned back so Nico could see him better. "Mr. di Angelo, it is good to see you with the world once more."

Nico groaned and sat up, wincing at the protesting in his ribs. "Where are we?"

The Headmaster's smile faded. "In Diagon Alley, my boy. In an alleyway just outside of Gringotts, to be precise."

"Good," Nico grabbed the brick wall and used it to help push him to his feet. "This is where one of Tom's Horcruxes is."

He pushed off the wall with full intent of walking out of the alley with dignity (or as much as any pale, skinny kid walking with the Headmaster could), but the cobbles swayed beneath him the moment he let go.

"Mr. di Angelo!" Dumbledore watched as he stumbled but made no move to assist him.

 _Smart man._

"I do not think that is advisable," Dumbledore continued. "However it was that you got us here-"

"Shadow travel," Nico said through gritted teeth.

"-made you unresponsive to things of this plane. You collapsed upon arrival, but the spells cast to move you went right through your body - as if you didn't exist."

Nico looked up and saw there was genuine fear in the Headmaster's eyes. Whether it was fear of what this unknown power could do or fear that Nico could control it, Nico didn't know.

"I'm fine," Nico grumbled and stood once more, taking careful steps so as not to fall _again_. "It's just a side effect of shadow travelling. Getting closer to the realm of the dead causes a person to fade more into it. I did too much of it this summer and I guess that I'm not as healed as I thought."

Nico couldn't see Dumbledore's expression, but the man behind him was silent, as if just now remembering that this wasn't Nico's first time risking his life for the gods. Nico rolled his eyes and turned back to the Headmaster. "There's a cup inside Gringotts. We need to steal something that is not our own from a highly guarded security vault in the establishment of some of the most ruthless creatures in this society who do _not_ like thieves. Let's go knock on the front door."

oO0Oo

The cart brought Nico down, down, down along the railroad track. It went farther than Nico's vault, past unground lakes and veins of precious metals and jewels. Nico knew Hazel would be completely overwhelmed if she came down here.

Two goblins sat in the cart with Nico and they eyed him warily, untrusting of his intentions. One of them eyed the sword that the security enchantments revealed with flexing fingers. Nico had no doubt that if it came to it, the goblin's fingernails were just as sharp as his sword.

Dumbledore was still in the upper part of the bank and Nico had to hide a smirk as he remembered how _that_ interaction in Ragnok's office went.

" _Headmaster Dumbledore," the goblin seated at the desk sneered. "What brings you to my office today?"_

" _Actually, my lord," Nico said, emerging from the doorway behind Dumbledore, "It is I who seeks you out."_

" _Ah, the young Lord Slytherin," Ragnok shuffled his papers together and slide them in a drawer in his desk. "Please, take a seat."_

 _Nico slid into one of the seats in front of the goblin's desk, ignoring Dumbledore's baffled expression._

" _How can I help My Lady's Champion today?"_

 _Nico deliberated over his words. Goblins were excellent lawyers who knew how to understand what you weren't saying and manipulate what you were into their own interpretation. One wrong move and Nico could shatter the fragile respect he'd gained by questing for Hecate and being the lord of a Most Ancient and Most Noble house._

" _There is a cup hidden in one of your vaults," Nico decided, "That belongs to an important person. This person was tasked with keeping it by Tom Marvolo Riddle. However, the cup is also one of Riddle's Horcruxes. Seeing how Riddle is a descendant of the House of Slytherin and I am its lord, all of his assets are mine to confiscate his belongings should I choose - in this case, his soul and its vessel. I wish only to take the cup from the vault and extract the Horcrux from it. After I am done, you may return the cup to its rightful owners."_

 _Nico went on to describe the cup and the madwoman who'd hidden it away._

 _There was a tense moment of silence as the goblin stroked his chin with his long fingers. Finally, just as Nico thought Dumbledore was about to have a heart attack from processing all the bombshells that were laid down, Ragnok spoke._

" _As Lord Slytherin, I cannot prevent you from freezing or confiscating a decedent's account and items. However, seeing as the cup is not in the possession of a member of the household of Slytherin, I cannot give unrestrained access to the vault."_

 _Nico felt his shoulders deflate, but the goblin carried on._

" _However, because you are on a quest for the founders of our world, and only because I do not wish their wrath upon me, I will allow you and_ only _you to be accompanied down to the vault with Finak and Kilgon. Your professor must stay here."_

 _Before Dumbledore could protest, Nico reached across the desk and shook the goblin's hand "It's a deal."_

Dumbledore had _not_ been amused with being forced to stay in the lobby whilst Nico fetched the Horcrux. Nico knew the man was just concerned for him, just as he was with all his students, but by the _gods,_ it was getting infuriating. For the first time, Nico felt like he could breathe without the presence of the Headmaster looming over his shoulder.

The cart screeched to a halt at the side of a large platform that fell quickly into darkness. Nico, even with his enhanced sense (one of the few perks of being a demigod), couldn't see much beyond the stone columns. He could, however, _hear_ something moving beyond. Snorting and scuffling and scraping. Every now and again there was a momentary flash, like something had caught fire but quickly been doused.

Nico took comfort in the familiar weight of his sword by his side.

"Come," one of the goblins - Nico thought it might have been Kilgon? - motioned toward him. "Lamp."

Obediently, Nico brought the lamp from the cart with him. The goblins exchanged glances, seemingly having a silent conversation, before Finak took the lamp from Nico and Kilgon moved farther into the darkness.

They didn't talk much, but Nico didn't mind that. After months of living with five boys who never seemed to shut up, he welcomed the silence.

Nico waited there for several heartbeats and was just about to ask the goblin next to him what was happening, when there came an awful clunking noise from the darkness.

Startled, Nico jumbled and gripped his sword, but Finak put a hand against his elbow and shook his head. "This way."

Mystified and still on high alert, Nico followed the goblin as he disappeared into the darkness. Jogging slightly to catch up, Nico stayed behind him as he went around the dank cavern lighting lamps with the lantern.

When the light illuminated the farthest corners of the cavern, Nico immediately wished it was dark again. He drew his sword and adjusted his stance.

In the center of the room lay the Colchian dragon.

Kilgon was off to the side, making a horrible racket with a metal instrument that had the dragon cowering away from it.

"Ukranian Ironbelly," Finak gave by way of description. "Guards the vault."

 _No, no, no,_ Nico wanted to scream _, that is not a Ukranian Ironbelly and you've placed us all in grave danger by bringing me here._

He had no idea how it'd wound up beneath a wizarding bank, but Nico could see how the Colchian dragon might have been mistaken for a dragon Hagrid was rather _fond_ of. In the dim light, the dragon's usual shimmering green-yellow scales were dulled from the lack of sunlight and covered in stone dust. Its eyes were milky and unseeing.

 _It's blind_ , Nico realized with no small amount of glee. _It might not know I'm here._

Of course, the dragon took that instant to open its nostrils and smell the air. With a roar that shook the cavern, the scaly head whipped towards him, sightless eyes looking right at him.

Nico did _not_ whimper, but he did let out a little yelp of fright.

"The vault," he screamed, voice cracking with fear, "Get me into the vault!"

The dragon pushed itself to its feet and let out another roar - this time in anger as it discovered how restrictive the chains that bound him were. It pressed upwards, straining against the chains as the groaned and creaked. As rusted and old as they were, Nico was surprised the dragon hadn't escaped before.

Nico prayed to his father and anyone else willing to listen that it didn't escape. He'd never taken on a dragon before. The last one he'd seen during the Battle of Manhatten had taken out four campers before they'd managed to turn it to dust.

Kilgon stood there in shock, Clankers forgotten where he dropped them.

Finak ran as fast as his legs would take him and practically thrust the lantern into Nico's hands when they got to the vault door. The goblin pressed his palm against the iron door and Nico could hear the mechanisms unlocking slowly - much too slowly.

Kilgon screamed behind them, but when Nico whirled around he wasn't there. Instead all that was left was the metal clankers, glowing red-hot amongst a pile of ashes.

Nico winced and spun back to see Finak pushing the iron door open with more strength than Nico could have thought he would have. Scrambling, Nico slid into the vault with the goblin just as the door slammed shut and grew uncomfortably warm as the dragon breathed fire in their direction.

Catching his breath, Nico leaned against the wall and watched Finak out of the corner of his eye. The goblin stood staring at the door, unmoving and not making a sound. If Nico didn't know the signs of shock, he would have thought the goblin dead.

Careful not to disturb his mourning guide, Nico pushed off the wall and scanned the room. It was like stepping into El Dorado.

Stacked from floor to ceiling were columns of galleons and pyramids of bars of gold and silver. Gemstones lay scattered about in piles on the cobble floors, strew half-hazardly everywhere. Several suits of armour stood guard along the walls and the eye-sockets in their helmets seemed to follow Nico as he stepped off the dais and into the room.

At first, Nico couldn't see the cup for the sparkling of the light on the jewel-embedded potion flasks and the numerous crowns and wands held on display in shining glass cases.

But then, amidst a mounted collection of dried monster and animal hides, Nico saw it. The cup was mounted on a dais of ivory and gold and seemed to tempt him as it shone in the torch-light.

 _Come and get me, son of Hades,_ a dark voice whispered, _I am what you seek._

Nico's foot brushed a gemstone and it all went to Hades.

With a sound like the firecrackers they lit on the beach at Camp, the gemstone exploded into multiples of itself. Those multiples, in turn, hit other treasures that began multiplying with all the force of a small explosion.

"Cursed!" Finak wailed from behind him. "Multiply when touched!"

"Of course they do," Nico grumbled as he ran through the vault, dodging exploding coins and swords that seemed intent on piercing his skin. He lept over bars of gold and vials of poisons as light-footed and as steady as he'd ever been. If this new agility was a product of whatever the Matron had been using at the castle, Nico wondered if she could give him the recipe.

Pushing against the base of the tall dais, Nico jumped and swiped the cup off its pedestal.

One thing he hadn't accounted for was gravity.

He hit the growing pile of treasures beneath him with an impact that knocked the breath from his lungs. Nico's groan turned into a yelp when he felt heat sear through his shirt.

Finak was screaming from the other end of the room as the sea of cursed treasures rose higher and higher. Nico pushed himself up, ignoring the burns that sizzled through the flesh of his hands. He waded through the knee-high treasures, wincing as he felt the heat from the curses begin to eat away at the fabric of his pants and scorch the skin of his legs.

By the time Nico pulled himself up on the dais by the door, the cursed treasures were up to his neck. The burns on his neck were making it hard to breathe and he couldn't see Finak for all the treasure, but he could hear him wailing nearby.

" _Brace yourself!_ " Nico yelled and _shoved_ the iron door with what remained of his strength.

It groaned beneath his assault and swung open just as the treasures filled the room.

Nico, the goblin, and the treasure all spilled out of the room with a loud crashing noise that had the Colchian dragon rearing back in surprise. Nico ran toward where a single goblin hand poked out of a mass of rubies and pulled Finak out.

" _Can you navigate the cart by yourself?"_ Nico yelled above the crashing and exploding.

Wide-eyed and terrified, Finak nodded quickly and limped as fast as he could toward the edge of the platform and the cart that would take them back to the surface.

Nico whirled around and turned his attention back to the dragon, but it seemed he didn't have to worry.

The dragon roared and thrashed about, blowing fire at the cursed treasures, but that only made them multiply faster. Soon dragon was buried up to its wings in silver bars and vials of potions. It turned towards Nico and growled, blowing a column of flame toward him, but even that was soon doused by an explosion of emeralds and topaz.

" _Hurry!"_ Finak was gesturing to him from the cart with one hand held close to his burned chest and the other holding unsteadily to the levers.

Nico sheathed his sword, secured the Horcrux, and sprinted towards the cart.

oO0Oo

Ragnok was not happy to see them.

"Where is Kilgon?" The head of Gringotts frowned down at Nico and Finak when they returned, clothing in ashes, skin burned, and with one less member of their party.

"Ukrainian Ironbelly," Finak said by way of explanation, "Now ashes."

"That was _not_ a Ukrainian Ironbelly," Nico limped forward, drawing the room's attention to him. "That was the Colchian dragon. It smelled me - my heritage - the moment we stepped into the room. We're lucky that only one person was killed."

Ragnok's nostrils flared and Nico felt a muted sense of danger, but he was too exhausted and in too much pain to pay much attention to it. He'd secured the Horcrux to his pants by tying the remainder of his tie through one of the handles then looping it through a belt loop. Now he brought it into the view of the goblin lord and his headmaster, ignoring the pitiful looks Dumbledore was giving him. He neither needed nor wanted this man's sympathy.

"With your permission, Lord Ragnok," Nico continued, "I will destroy the Horcrux."

Fury still burned in Ragnok's eyes, but he gave a terse nod toward Nico.

Untying the Horcrux, Nico placed it on Ragnok's desk and unsheathed his sword. It wasn't as efficient or as cool as his scythe, but Nico knew that summoning forth the Horcrux would take the last of his energy, let alone materializing a weapon of enchanted metal.

Taking a deep breath, Nico placed his hand on the badger engraved in the cup. Calling forth shadows from the depths of the metal, the room waited in charged silence as dark smoke, as thick and black as Nyx, rose from the shimmering golden cup.

"What the-"

Ragnok's voice was small and far away as Nico adjusted his grip on his sword. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead as he concentrated on gathering the Horcrux together.

Voices rang out from the smoke.

" _Death is sometimes kinder."_

" _The other side, Nico! We'll see you there! Understand?"_

" _Here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?"_

" _Some deaths should not be prevented."_

" _You do not have the_ strength _."_

It was that last one that caused rage to explode within Nico. Who was Cupid to say what he did or did not have in the name of love? Who was he to decide how much Nico had to risk.

With a wild yell, Nico swung the stygian iron sword at the whispering bundle of smoke and watched as the metal sank in with a soft sigh and the Horcrux disappeared, leaving only haunting words and a final screech in its place.

There was silence.

No one in the office spoke as the echoes of the screams disappeared into nothingness.

Finally, Finak broke the tension in the room by collapsing on the floor with a groan. As Ragnok called for a healer, Dumbledore turned to him.

"I must, I'm afraid, beg for one last favour, Ragnok," Dumbledore said, but Nico could hardly hear him. It felt like he was underwater and exhaustion weighed him doubt more with each passing moment. All he felt like doing was slipping into a coma for the next few millennia.

Ragnok grunted and Dumbledore smiled apologetically.

"Could we use your floo?"


End file.
